Music director Giancarlo Guerrero
The Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2022, has a big change on the horizon: Per an announcement in June, longtime music director Giancarlo Guerrero is set to step down from the podium following the 2024-2025 season. Today, the ensemble has announced the programming for his final complete season — his successor and the exact timeline for the changeover haven’t been announced — and you could definitely call it “going out with a bang.”
The Classical Series concerts begin Sept. 13 and 14 with a program of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Mahler’s mighty Fifth Symphony, featuring guest pianist Joyce Yang. Some other highlights include a program set for January with compositions by Beethoven, Wagner and Julia Wolfe with a guest appearance by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and one in March including Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 (“Unfinished”) and Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite that features pianist Aaron Diehl. The program for May 23 through 25, 2025, is called “Guerrero’s Finale” and features Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 8, aka “Symphony of a Thousand.”
There’s much more. Jazz legend Herbie Hancock’s tour will come through in September and R&B wizard Dionne Warwick will be here in November. Silkroad Ensemble and Rhiannon Giddens will also stop by in November, and Karen Slack — a revered soprano whom you heard in The Jonah People — will present a program called African Queens in March. Per usual, several guest artists are performing with the Symphony, including Violent Femmes and The War and Treaty, and there’s a slate of films to be presented with live orchestra accompaniment including Raiders of the Lost Ark and the 1961 version of West Side Story. And one notable event isn’t even musical at all: Cultural critic and commentator Fran Lebowitz comes to the Schermerhorn in November.
At press time, only season subscribers were able to purchase tickets — check out subscription package options via the Symphony’s website, where you can also watch for tickets to go on sale to the general public.
