The Tennessean: How outgoing Nashville Symphony Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero went from 'hobby' to creating a 'world class orchestra'

By Melonee Hurt, Nashville Tennessean

Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero began his musical career at the back of the orchestra with two sticks in his hand before moving to the front with only one.

What started as a way to make friends playing percussion in a Costa Rican youth orchestra, evolved into an award-winning career conducting orchestras all over the world including his current home at the Nashville Symphony.

After nearly 20 years at the podium in Nashville, however, Guerrero says it's time for some new blood, new ideas and new energy at the front of the Schermerhorn stage. The May 23- 25 performances of Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand will be Guerrero's finale as the Nashville Symphony's music director.

While he is headed to Florida to become music director for the Sarasota Orchestra, he will remain music director laureate after his final official season in Nashville and says he plans to visit often — although very discreetly he says, so that he can enjoy the symphony without creating any distractions.

From Rachmaninoff to Rush

Sitting down with Guerrero in his corner office inside Schermerhorn Symphony Center, it's easy to see why he is so beloved by anyone who knows him.

He's a unique mix of intimidating and welcoming. He's professional and casual at the same time. He's at the top of his game, but isn't afraid to joke about the early days when he made fun of conductors. He's both emotional and stoic. He watches classical music performances on the TV in his office, but jams heavy metal bands Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, and his favorite band Rush while driving around in his car.

"Rush is the greatest band in the universe," he says definitively.

We talked with Guerrero to learn about his upbringing, his musical journey, his time in Nashville and what he will miss most about his time in Music City.

Guerrero left his native Nicaragua at 11 to move to Costa Rica where his parents enrolled him in the youth orchestra.

"This was just a hobby," Guerrero told The Tennessean. "It was something to do after school. I was surrounded by my friends and because we had to audition every year, if I didn't practice enough I wouldn't be in the orchestra the next year which meant I wouldn't get to see my friends."

He added that many of his best friends today are guys he grew up with in that youth orchestra. Most of whom went on to become successful musicians.

But back in the day, that crew didn't take themselves too seriously. In fact, Guerrero said they loved making fun of the conductor.

"It's built into the psyche of young musicians," he said. "I mean, it's like making fun of the teacher. We are playing very loud instruments, so we could make their lives a little miserable. It's not that we did all the time, but there was always this kind-of us-against-them mentality."

It wasn't until he was at Baylor University that he was required to take a conducting class, which he also didn't take very seriously.

"My teacher at the end of the semester said, 'I don't know what it is. Maybe the fact that you're used to having a stick in your hand. The fact that you have good rhythm as a percussionist,' so he encouraged me to pursue it. He said I looked like I have a natural talent for it."

Thanks to that one little nudge from the professor, he did pursue it. He began learning scores on the side, watching conductors more closely and, well, practicing.

"I used to play recordings and sit in my living room and imagine I was conducting the Chicago Symphony," Guerrero said.

The first time conducting off the couch and in front of a group of musicians, Guerrero said he was scared to death.

"There are a hundred people in front of you waiting for you to give them a cue," he remembers. "At the beginning you don't know what you're doing. You're hoping your fly is not open. You start thinking about stuff like that and conducting something for the first time, you don't know where the minefields are. And trust me, you're going to step on all of them."

Death, destruction — and a few Grammys

Guerrero's time in Nashville hasn't been without extreme difficulties from the very beginning.

He was initially invited to be a guest conductor while the symphony was still playing at TPAC before the Schermerhorn Symphony Center was built. Kenneth Schermerhorn, the music director at the time, died unexpectedly the weekend before Guerrero's first visit. The year was 2005.

Guerrero stuck around to help the orchestra through the transition to a new music director and was ultimately named to Schermerhorn's position where he would lead the orchestra through the 2008 financial crash, the 2010 flood that caused $40 million in damage to the building and then in 2020, Covid.

There were also many highs. Under Guerrero's direction, the symphony brought several Grammy Awards home to Nashville's already highly decorated mantle of musical awards. He nurtured and ushered in programs highlighting American composers and created a bond with his musicians over the last two decades.

"Giancarlo’s impact on the Nashville Symphony — on the orchestra’s artistic growth, its contribution to the canon of orchestral music and its reputation and stature in the classical music world — has been enormous," symphony President and CEO Alan Valentine said. "He took the legacy of all of those who came before him, most notably, Kenneth Schermerhorn, and built upon that foundation to create a truly world-class orchestra, performing at an extraordinarily high level."

From a little rain to a 'catastrophic situation'

One rainy Saturday morning in 2010, Guerrero remembers rehearsing in the hall and the stage manager informed him that some water was getting into the basement, but reassured him it wasn't a big deal.

"Then I woke up Sunday morning and I had a text from our general manager who said the hall has been flooded and it is in, and I quote, a 'catastrophic situation,'" he said.

After calls to the Houston Symphony, who Valentine knew had dealt with flooding due to hurricanes, they learned the worst was yet to come: mold.

"Within 24 hours, they walled up the entire area. They put a fence around it and then all of this area was plastic. All of it. And you had to come in with hazmat suits. It was very depressing." It would be seven months before the symphony would play on its home turf again.

But the symphony weathered the storm beautifully. The first performance after the flood was with Christopher Cross, who Guerrero said was eager to help.

They decided to proceed with Cross' performance, only it would be on the lawn at Public Square Park in front of the Metro courthouse.

"That ended up being one of the proudest moments for us," Guerrero remembers. "A few thousand people showed up and it was definitely what this city needed at the time. In many ways, the symphony became the image of the recovery."

The 'musician's conductor' leaves a legacy

Guerrero leaves his time in Nashville with so many accolades to his name, but it's the relationships, the growth and the elevation of the symphony overall that he will ultimately be remembered for.

Peter Otto is the symphony's concertmaster and principal violinist. He said the concertmaster/conductor relationship is a very special one, and Guerrero is one of the conductors he feels most comfortable with.

"Giancarlo and I worked together many times in Cleveland before I came to Nashville. I was always struck by how much of a 'musician’s conductor, he is," Otto said. "He wants the musicians to be able to play their best, and everything he does serves that goal. I have never played a concert with him feeling unsure of what I’m supposed to be doing. His thoughtful and heartfelt musicianship really stand out among the conductors of today, and his connection to the musicians can be heard in the music making."

 Guerrero said with 90-plus excellent musicians, everyone comes to the performance stage with their own ideas of how things should be preformed.

 "You have to make something cohesive out of that. As a conductor, you have to bring your own ideas. And instill them into the orchestra just by using telepathy. It can be a glance or even a breath. It’s very mysterious.  Don't ask anybody what makes a great conductor. I mean, it's chemistry.  You can have a great conductor with a great orchestra, and if there's no chemistry, doesn't click."

Next steps for Guerrero

While Guerrero's next gig is in Sarasota, he and his wife plan to relocate to their home in Miami. With his amount of travel, an airport with direct international flights is a must-have. Miami is also closer to both he and his wife's families in Costa Rica.

But since his season isn't over yet, he's focused on maintaining the artistic product and great orchestra that the next music director is going to inherit.

What would he like to see in his successor?

"Different ideas," he said. "I think it's time that somebody comes in and puts a little bit of new blood, new energy and everything from a different repertoire to different songs and different types of projects. Musically, it's going to be fantastic."

One thing Guerrero says he won't do is have a hand in hiring his replacement.

"I wouldn't even give an opinion," he said. "It's not my place. My greatest gift to the next music director is me getting out of town. This is your orchestra now. The last thing you want is me to be hanging around. This is your orchestra. But I will gladly come back as many times as you want me to."

His dream beyond his next job?

"I do have a dream to someday take a sabbatical from conduction and go back to percussion," he said. "I would love to go to some obscure place where they don't know I'm a conductor. I'll come in with my little stick bag and just let me make noise and sit back there for a couple of years. I will go back to making all the jokes."

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.

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