Florida’s Sarasota Orchestra Appoints Next Music Director

The six-time GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Giancarlo Guerrero will assume the role as of the 2025/26 concert season

Giancarlo Guerrero will serve as Music Director Designate of the Sarasota Orchestra in the 2024/25 season before officially beginning his tenure as its seventh Music Director in fall 2025. His contract spans an initial six years (including the designated season).

He will succeed conductor Bramwell Tovey, who passed away in 2022. For upcoming projects, Guerrero will replace the previously announced guest conductor Rune Bergmann. 

As of September 2024, Guerrero will also serve in his 16th and final year as music director of the Nashville Symphony, where he will remain as music director emeritus from the 2025/26 season. He will continue this role alongside his position with the Sarasota Orchestra and other international guest conducting engagements.

Guerrero was voted unanimously by the Sarasota Orchestra’s board of directors following a two-season international search. Chaired by Mark Pritchett, the former CEO of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the search committee comprised orchestra musicians, plus board and staff members. 

A six-time GRAMMY Award-winning conductor, Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony have premiered over two dozen new works and released 21 commercial albums.

Previously, he was principal guest conductor of both the Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, music director of the Eugene Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra’s associate conductor. Recently, he also completed a six-season tenure as music director of Poland’s NFM Wrocław Philharmonic.

He has also conducted the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra, plus maintained long-standing relationships with top orchestras across Europe, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Dedicated to fostering the work of contemporary composers, Guerrero has worked with composer Aaron Jay Kernis, and helped to develop Nashville Symphony’s biannual Composer Lab & Workshop for emerging composers. As an educator, he has worked with the training orchestras of Juilliard, the Curtis Institute of Music, Colburn School in Los Angeles, National Youth Orchestra (NYO2), and Yale Philharmonia. 

Guerrero’s first concerts with the Sarasota Orchestra will be from November 8–10, 2024, featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Adolphus Hailstork, and Jennifer Higdon. He will return to conduct from January 30 to February 2, 2025, with a program including works by Shostakovich and Arturo Márquez. 

Additionally, Guerrero joins the Sarasota Orchestra as it prepares to construct its new Music Center, including a concert hall engineered and purpose-built for orchestral and acoustic music. 

“As we continue advancing our plans for a Music Center, it was important for us to select a music director whose artistic vision will elevate us both now and into the future,” said Board Chair Tom Koski in the press release. “Giancarlo possesses the ideal combination of leadership experience and enthusiasm for sharing great music with exquisite passion.”  

“Giancarlo’s exceptional talent and esteemed reputation will significantly enhance our Orchestra’s standing among the world’s most prestigious ensembles,” added Sarasota Orchestra’s President and CEO, Joseph McKenna. “His visionary leadership, coupled with a fervent commitment to community advocacy, will be critical in further establishing Sarasota as a thriving center for classical music excellence. Giancarlo will also guide our organization into an exciting future as the visionary leader for our Music Center.” 

“From my first rehearsal with them last winter, I was instantly impressed with this orchestra, filled with terrific musicians who take tremendous pride in their orchestra,” Guerrero expressed. “It was clear that everyone was prepared and ready to play, displaying a palpable joy in music-making. In my conversations with members of the organization, from board to musicians to staff, I sensed a great degree of pride in the future of the institution and a desire to achieve the highest possible artistic ground. Being asked to be music director at this important and historic moment of the orchestra is a tremendous honor. I am excited to be a part of the planning during this forward-looking time, and to add my artistic voice to the process, doing what I can to ensure a vibrant future for the orchestra and the Sarasota-Manatee community.”

“In the search committee’s work to identify our next music director, it was clear to us that Giancarlo’s time with the Nashville Symphony has been extraordinary,” added Daniel Jordan, Sarasota Orchestra concertmaster and search committee member. “When committee members visited Giancarlo and saw his performances, it was obvious he has the special ‘it’ factor that allows him to truly connect with audiences. Our Sarasota community then got to experience that firsthand this past season during his exhilarating Masterworks week.  I could not be more thrilled!”   

Founded in 1949, the Sarasota Orchestra comprises 76 musicians who perform in over 100 classical, pops, chamber music, and community outreach concerts each year. The orchestra also hosts its acclaimed Sarasota Youth Orchestra programs and the Sarasota Music Festival.