Nashville Symphony

Since the 1980s the Nashville Symphony has developed into an ensemble with a national profile, one that promotes modern compositions and attracts fresh listeners through adventurous programs that blend genres. Its music director Giancarlo Guerrero has built an extensive discography via regular projects issued by Naxos.

Tracing its roots to 1920, the ensemble began when Vanderbilt University musicologist and critic George Pullen Jackson established a Symphony Society made up of both professional and amateur players from the area. That organization collapsed amid the economic hardships of the 1930s, only to be reestablished after World War II under the name Nashville Symphony. William Strickland became its first music director; he was followed by Guy Taylor from 1951 to 1959, Willis Page from 1959 to 1967, and Thor Johnson from 1967 to 1975. During those years the players also contributed to the polished string backings favored by countrypolitan performers such as Patsy Cline, alongside their regular concert series. From 1976 to 1982 Michael Charry guided the move into the expansive Tennessee Performing Arts Center downtown. Kenneth Schermerhorn, who led the group from 1983 to 2009, pursued greater national visibility through an initiative called “Symphony 2000.” He launched the Naxos recording initiative and increased visibility with a PBS broadcast of Liberty! The American Revolution. The opening of the orchestra’s dedicated venue, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, in 2006 served as a tribute to him. Following Schermerhorn’s death in 2005, Leonard Slatkin acted as artistic director from 2006 to 2009. A nationwide search resulted in Giancarlo Guerrero’s appointment in 2009. Guerrero has focused strongly on new works by composers ranging from Osvaldo Golijov to John Adams to Jennifer Higdon.

The orchestra maintains its tradition of genre-crossing projects, among them country collaborations that reflect its location in a leading hub of American popular music. Guerrero has sustained the Naxos series with consistent releases throughout the 2010s, one of which featured music by Jonathan Leshnoff in 2019.