| Nashville Symphony | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
 official logo | |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Concert hall | Schermerhorn Symphony Center |
| Principal conductor | (post vacant) |
| Website | www |
TheNashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based inNashville, Tennessee. The orchestra is resident at theSchermerhorn Symphony Center.
In 1920, prior to the 1946 founding of the Nashville Symphony, a group of amateur and professional musicians established an orchestral ensemble in Nashville, electingNashville Banner music critic andVanderbilt University professor George Pullen Jackson to serve as their president and manager. Despite steady growth over the next decade, that organization fell victim toThe Depression. In 1945, World War II veteran and Nashville native Walter Sharp returned home from the war intent on establishing a new symphony for Middle Tennessee.[1] With the assistance of a small number of fellow music lovers, he convinced community leaders of this need and the Nashville Symphony was founded.
Sharp retainedWilliam Strickland, a young conductor from New York, to serve as its first music director and conductor. The orchestra performed its first concert in the fall of 1946 at War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville. Over the ensuing five seasons, Strickland was responsible for setting the high performance standards that the orchestra and its conductors have maintained to this day. Guy Taylor (1951–1959),Willis Page (1959–1967),Thor Johnson (1967–1975) and Michael Charry (1976–1982) were successive music directors. During Charry's tenure, the symphony moved its subscription series from War Memorial Auditorium to Jackson Hall in theTennessee Performing Arts Center.
Beginning in 1983,Kenneth Schermerhorn served as music director of the orchestra for 22 years, until his death in April 2005. The orchestra's profile increased during his tenure through recordings, television broadcasts and an East Coast tour, which culminated in a performance at Carnegie Hall on September 25, 2000.[2] Following Schermerhorn's death, the orchestra nameLeonard Slatkin its artistic advisor in 2006, for a contract of three years, through 2009.[3]
In September 2006, the Symphony openedSchermerhorn Symphony Center, a $123.5 million project, which includes Laura Turner Concert Hall.[4] Slatkin conducted the orchestra's first concert in the new hall on September 9, 2006, which included works by Shostakovich, Barber and Mahler, and a world premiere Triple Concerto byBela Fleck,Zakir Hussain andEdgar Meyer.
In September 2007, the orchestra announced the appointmentGiancarlo Guerrero as the seventh music director of the Nashville Symphony, effective with the 2009–2010 season, with an initial contract for 5 years.[5] Under his direction, the orchestra has received a number of awards, including the 2011ASCAP award for Programming of Contemporary Music,[6] the 2013ASCAP award for Programming of Contemporary Music[7] andNational Endowment for the Arts grants supporting its commitment to American music.[8] The orchestra's recordings have also earned a number of Grammy Awards and nominations (seeRecordings below).
In March 2019, the orchestra announced the appointment ofEnrico Lopez-Yañez as Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony[9]after serving as the assistant conductor since 2017.[10]
In June 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the orchestra announced the suspension of its concert activities through July 31, 2021, and the furlough of 79 musicians, 49 staff members, and Guerrero on July 1, 2020.[11]
In June 2023, Guerrero announced his intention to conclude his tenure as music director of the Nashville Symphony at the close of the 2024–2025 season, and subsequently to take the title of music director laureate for the 2025–2026 season.[12] In July 2025, the orchestra announced the re-appointment of Slatkin as its music advisor, effective with the 2025-2026 season, for a term of three seasons.[13]
For the Naxos label, the orchestra has made more than 30 recordings since the year 2000. Several of these CDs have garnered a total of 26Grammy Award nominations and 14 Grammy Awards. In 2008, the orchestra's CD of the music ofJoan Tower,Made in America, won 3 Grammy Awards, including Best Orchestral Performance and Best Classical Album. In 2011, the orchestra's CD of music byMichael Daugherty, "Deus Ex Machina," won 3 Grammy Awards, and the following year its recording of music byChristopher Rouse, "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra," earned one Grammy Award. The orchestra's 2016 recording of works byJennifer Higdon earned two Grammy Awards and most recently their recording of "Christopher Rouse – Symphony No.5" won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.[14]
Music education has been an integral part of the Nashville Symphony's mission for much of its existence. Early in the orchestra's history, ensembles of musicians visited local schools. The orchestra has also offered free concerts for Nashville-area students since at least the 1970s. Most recently, the orchestra launched the Accelerando program, which is designed to create opportunities for young musicians from ethnic communities underrepresented in American orchestras. The program has received funding from theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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