Giancarlo Guerrero

Giancarlo Guerrero is a six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor whose imaginative programming and “curatorial and interpretive creativity” (Chicago Tribune) draw out of his orchestras “exceptionally powerful and enchanting performances” (BBC Music Magazine). His contagious enthusiasm on the podium has led critics to praise his “clear and exacting beat and a gift for shifting between ferocity and tenderness” (San Francisco Chronicle) and his style that is “at once vigorous, passionate, and nuanced” (BachTrack).

In August 2024, Sarasota Orchestra announced Giancarlo Guerrero as its new music director, the seventh since the Orchestra’s founding in 1949. He is also the artistic director and principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. Prior to Sarasota, Giancarlo served for 16 seasons as music director of the Nashville Symphony, after which he transitioned to the position of music director laureate.  Under his direction, the Nashville Symphony commissioned and premiered nearly two dozen pieces—including works by Béla Fleck, Ben Folds, Jennifer Higdon, Hannibal Lokumbe, Terry Riley, and Victor Wooten—and released 21 commercial recordings, which have garnered 18 GRAMMY® nominations and 11 GRAMMY® Awards across multiple categories. Giancarlo is also a frequent and sought-after guest conductor at leading symphony orchestras around the world. Recent seasons have included engagements with the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and those of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Montréal, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Throughout his career, Giancarlo has championed the works of prominent American composers through commissions, recordings, and world premieres.  As part of his commitment to fostering the work of contemporary composers, Giancarlo, together with composer Aaron Jay Kernis, guided the creation of Nashville Symphony’s biannual Composer Lab & Workshop for young and emerging composers.

Giancarlo held a six-season tenure as music director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. With that orchestra, he made several recordings, including the Billboard chart-topping Bomsori: Violin on Stage on Deutsche Grammophon and albums of repertoire by Szymanowski, Brahms, Poulenc, and Jongen. He previously held posts as the principal guest conductor of both The Cleveland Orchestra, Miami Residency and the Gulbenkian Symphony in Lisbon; music director of the Eugene Symphony; and associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Born in Nicaragua, Giancarlo immigrated to Costa Rica during his childhood, where he joined the local youth symphony. He studied percussion and conducting at Baylor University in Texas and earned his master’s degree in conducting at Northwestern University. Given his beginnings in civic youth orchestras, Giancarlo is particularly engaged with conducting training orchestras and has worked with the Curtis School of Music, Colburn School in Los Angeles, National Youth Orchestra (NYO2), and Yale Philharmonia, as well as with the Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando program, which provides an intensive music education to promising young students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. More at www.giancarlo-guerrero.com.