The Schermerhorn
Ten years ago this month, internationally renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin walked onstage at the newly opened Schermerhorn Symphony Center, gave the Nashville Symphony Orchestra its downbeat, and ushered the ensemble into the big time.
For the NSO, it’s been an adventurous and tumultuous decade. The ensemble has been on a Grammy-winning streak, gaining international accolades for its recordings of contemporary American music. The orchestra also barely skirted disaster after the 2008 economic downturn and the 2010 flood.
“It’s been a real roller-coaster ride for the Nashville Symphony over the past 10 years,” NSO music director Giancarlo Guerrero tells the Scene. “But we’ve survived and thrived, and now we want to say thank you to the community that has supported us through the years.”
The NSO will express its gratitude in high style, with concerts that celebrate the orchestra’s past and pave the way to its future. Guerrero will officially open the NSO’s classical series next Thursday with a nod to his predecessor, Kenneth Schermerhorn, performing the late, great music director’s Jubilee: A Tennessee Quilting Party for Orchestra.
“I never got to meet Kenneth in person, but I see his legacy everywhere in this concert hall,” Guerrero says. “I thought the most appropriate way to open the season was to play this celebratory piece, which Kenneth composed in 1985 for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts.”
That program (Sept. 22-24) at the Schermerhorn will also include a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection.” Slatkin conducted the final two movements of the Mahler Second at the inaugural opening of the Schermerhorn on Sept. 9, 2006. Guerrero, who’s spent the past several years surveying all of Mahler’s music, felt the time was right to play the entire symphony.
The NSO’s future is the focus of the next classical concerts (Oct. 7-8), which will feature 22-year-old pianist Conrad Tao in a performance of Edvard Grieg’s evergreen Piano Concerto in A minor. The orchestra’s youthful associate conductor, Vinay Parameswaran, will lead the program, which will include a piece called Tumblebird Contrails by the NSO’s Gabriella Smith, a 24-year-old composer lab fellow.
Although many aficionados now view the NSO as one of the country’s top classical groups, Guerrero and his partner, NSO president Alan Valentine, consider the orchestra to be primarily a heartland ensemble. To underscore that point, the orchestra will perform a major American work on every program.
Violinist Simone Porter, a 19-year-old phenom who wowed the Schermerhorn two years ago in a performance of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1, returns to solo in American composer Samuel Barber’s lyrically appealing Violin Concerto (Oct. 28-29). Guerrero will round out that program with Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.
Barber’s seldom-heard Essay No. 2 for orchestra will open a program that will also include Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 with pianist Inon Barnatan and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony (Nov. 4-5). Vassily Sinaisky will be the guest conductor.
Guerrero will return to the podium for a program that pairs two American works — Jonathan Leshnoff’s Starburst and Aaron Jay Kernis’ Color Wheel — with two pieces by Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 4 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Nov. 17-19). Pianist Boris Giltburg will solo.
“The opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center changed everything for us, because the quality of the sound in the hall elevated our playing to a much higher level,” says Valentine. “That’s definitely worth celebrating.”
Don't Miss:
Sept. 16-18: Nashville Ballet’s Cinderella at TPAC’s Polk Theater
Nashville Ballet opens its 2016-17 season with this classic work, featuring Prokofiev’s grand and majestic score. Parents will no doubt marvel at this ballet’s elegant pirouettes and graceful arabesques. The kids will love the slapstick comedy of the ugly stepsisters, whose roles are, by tradition, danced in ungainly fashion by men.
Sept. 26: Gateway Chamber Orchestra at the Franklin Theatre
The Clarksville-based ensemble, under the direction of Gregory Wolynec, presents Nashville composer Conni Ellisor’s Blackberry Winter. Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) will close the program.
Sept. 28: Pianist Joyce Yang at Belmont’s McAfee Hall
In recent years, Belmont University’s Woods Piano Concert Series has presented medalists from the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. This year, the featured artist is Joyce Yang, the competition’s 2005 silver medalist.
Oct. 6 & 8: Nashville Opera’s Don Giovanni at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall
For its season opener, Nashville Opera is staging Mozart’s 1787 masterpiece, which tells the story — sometimes comical, sometimes supernatural — of history’s most infamous rake. Don Giovanni’s feminine conquests number in the thousands. Mozart reveals the scoundrel’s seductive art in the unforgettably beautiful duet “Là ci darem la mano.”
Oct. 13: Alias Chamber Ensemble at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music
Nashville’s ever-adventurous chamber group presents Paul Schoenfeld’s Café Music for piano trio, Matt Walker’s Sixes and Sevens for clarinet, marimba, cello and bass, and Jake Heggie’s Three Folk Songs for soprano and piano. Works by Jacques Ibert and Georg Philipp Telemann round out the program.
Oct. 19: Nashville Concerto Orchestra at West End United Methodist Church
Nashville’s newest orchestra presents the orchestral premiere of Michael Alec Rose’s Cello Concerto with cellist Felix Wang. The concert will also include music by Handel.
Oct. 20-22: Nashville Ballet’s Something Wicked at TPAC’s Polk Theater
Something wicked-good comes to Music City, courtesy of Nashville Ballet’s artistic director Paul Vasterling, who has combined Shakespeare’s Macbeth with the music of contemporary American composer Kenji Bunch.
Oct. 24: Gateway Chamber Orchestra at the Franklin Theatre
The ensemble gets transcendental, presenting Arvo Pärt’s life-affirming Fratres along with Morton Gould’s Spirituals. Works by Mendelssohn and Vaughan Williams are also on the program.
Nov. 11-13: Nashville Opera’s Glory Denied at the Noah Liff Opera Center
Contemporary composer Tom Cipullo’s opera for two sopranos, tenor and baritone tells the story of Col. Jim Thompson, a Vietnam vet who was America’s longest-held prisoner of war. Nashville Opera’s John Hoomes is staging the company premiere of this groundbreaking work.
Nov. 11: New Dialect at TPAC’s Polk Theater
Nashville’s red-hot contemporary dance group New Dialect makes its TPAC debut with a new work by choreographer Banning Bouldin, featuring the music of Cristina Spinei and Sound Riot. New works by choreographers Yin Yue and Idan Sharabi are also on the bill.
Nov. 15-17: Violinist Isabella Faust at Blair’s Turner Hall
The noted German violinist performs the complete cycle of Beethoven’s violin sonatas over the course of three nights at the Blair School of Music. Pianist Alexander Melnikov will assist.
Nov. 20: Violinist Itzhak Perlman at the Schermerhorn
The famed virtuoso performs music by Beethoven, Franck and Stravinsky, along with popular showpieces announced from the stage. Pianist Rohan de Silva will assist.
Dec. 1: chatterbird at WELD Nashville, 90 Oceanside Drive
Nashville’s avant-garde ensemble continues to push the envelope, presenting Thierry de Mey’s Table Music for six hands and three tables, Daniel Wohl’s Kin for percussion and electronics, and Halldor Smarason’s Game 13 for amplified chess board and ensemble. The concert will also feature a new piece by Bryan Clark.
