Giancarlo Guerrero Named Music Director of the Wroclaw Philharmonic at the National Forum of Music in Poland

The National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Poland, has announced that Giancarlo Guerrero is to be the Music Director of the Wroclaw Philharmonic starting in the 2017-18 season, succeeding Benjamin Shwartz. Guerrero will conduct four weeks during his first season in Wroclaw, and starting with the 2018-19 season, he will spend eight weeks per season with the orchestra in addition to touring and recording activities. Guerrero will continue in his role as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony, a post he has held since 2009 and to which he has committed through the 2024-25 season.

The Witold Lutoslawski National Forum of Music in Wroclaw is located in the historic center of Wroclaw and operates a state-of-the-art multifunctional concert venue which opened in 2015. The acoustic and theater design of the concert halls was the work of the renowned New York based Artec Consultants Inc (now Arup) and led by Tateo Nakajima. The building of the NFM has been designed by the esteemed polish architect Stefan Kury?owicz and the Kurylowicz & Associates Architectural Design Studio.The NFM presents an international orchestral series which in this current season included the Bayrischer Rundfunk and Staatskapelle Dresden among others.

The concert hall's impact on the community reminded Guerrero of the effect that Nashville Symphony's own venue, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, had on that city when it opened in 2006. "Wroclaw takes great pride in its orchestra, and the new hall reflects the vibrant community around it, revitalizing the city in a way that is reminiscent of what Schermerhorn Symphony Center helped to do for downtown Nashville when it opened ten years ago. The NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic strives to reach beyond the borders of the city to become a real cultural ambassador for Poland. I am energized by the vision of what this orchestra wants to become, and I am proud to be a part of that journey."

"I felt a connection with the musicians of the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic from the moment I started working with them, when I came to fill a last-minute cancellation in October 2016," Guerrero says. "My initial impressions of the musicians, the quality of the new hall and this lively city were confirmed when I returned in December. The orchestra's ambitious vision - combined with what I know is a special relationship with the musicians and an amazing space to showcase an endless variety of music and reach the highest artistic levels - made me very excited to come to Wroclaw."

Andrzej Kosendiak, Director of the NFM commented: "I am delighted that the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic will have such an excellent and respected music director. Now that Wroclaw has a concert hall that within two years since the opening has gained a such marvelous international reputation, we would like these next years to be the time of intense growth for the orchestra. The performances that Giancarlo and NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic have already given demonstrate a great and inspiring partnership, and I look forward to the concerts they will give and to following the way the orchestra will develop under his leadership."

Natalia Klingbajl, Manager of the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic said of the appointment: "The musicians of the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic and I are eagerly looking forward to working with Giancarlo Guerrero. We believe that it will be an inspiring and rewarding new chapter in the history of the orchestra and our new concert hall.

NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic is an orchestra with a great tradition but also a dedicated supporter of contemporary music, something we are excited to be able to explore with Giancarlo Guerrero. It was his commitment and passion for music that struck us most from the very first rehearsal, and we are very proud and pleased to be able to welcome him to Wroclaw as our new music director."

Giancarlo Guerrero will conduct NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic in a program of music by Bruckner tonight, Friday, June 9th. After tonight's concert Giancarlo Guerrero's next appearance with the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic will take place on December 15, 2017, in a program that includes Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1.

About Giancarlo Guerrero
Giancarlo Guerrero is the five-time GRAMMY Award-winning Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. A passionate proponent of new and contemporary music, Guerrero has championed the works of several of America's most respected composers. He has presented eight world premieres with the Nashville Symphony including the 2016 performance and recent GRAMMY-winning recording of Michael Daugherty's cello concerto Tales of Hemingway. The 2016-17 season also saw the release of new albums with the Nashville Symphony dedicated to the music of Richard Danielpour and Jennifer Higdon. Guerrero also recently developed and guided the creation of Nashville Symphony's Composer Lab & Workshop initiative, together with composer Aaron Jay Kernis, to further foster and promote new American orchestral music.

In the 2017-18 season, Guerrero's guest conducting engagements include the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Queensland Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, and Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon.

A natural and instinctive musician, Guerrero is a charismatic presence on the podium. Maestro Guerrero has appeared with many of the prominent North American orchestras, including those of Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Montreal, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He has developed a strong guest conducting profile in Europe and has worked with great success in recent seasons with the, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Deutsches Radio Philharmonie, L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Brussels Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Guerrero made his debut with Houston Grand Opera in 2015 conducting Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Early in his career, he worked regularly with the Costa Rican Lyric Opera and has conducted new productions of Carmen, La bohème, and Rigoletto. In 2008 he gave the Australian premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's one-act opera Ainadamar at the Adelaide Festival to great acclaim.

Giancarlo Guerrero previously held posts as the Principal Guest Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra Miami (2011-2016), Music Director of the Eugene Symphony (2002-2009), and Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra (1999-2004).

About the National Forum of Music and Wroclaw Philharmonic
The orchestra was founded in 1945. In 1994 it adopted the name of Witold Lutos?awski in memory of the great composer, and on the opening of the NFM in 2015, it became NFM Wroclaw Phiharmonic. In the previous years the ensemble has enjoyed a long collaboration with Jacek Kaspszyk and Benjamin Shwartz who both, during their tenures as music directors, contributed greatly to the group's development.

The NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic has worked with many fine guest conductors, among them Giovanni Antonini, Andrey Boreyko, Philippe Herreweghe, Paul McCreesh, Dima Slobodeniouk, Krzysztof Penderecki and Mario Venzago. The orchestra participated in a huge range of projects each season, including subscription concerts, education projects, recordings, radio broadcasts, and outdoor concert. The orchestra has worked with all of Poland's great 20th century composers including Witold Lutos?awski, Pawe? Mykietyn, Krzysztof Penderecki, El?bieta Sikora, Stanis?aw Skrowaczewski and Agata Zubel . Promoting Polish music is a special focus of the orchestra. While touring Europe and the United States, the orchestra presented works by Szymanowski, Lutos?awski, Górecki, and Penderecki.