NASHVILLE SYMPHONY NOVEMBER 2023 CONCERT SCHEDULE

Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero and the Orchestra Live-Record Chick Corea’s Trombone Concerto and Antonio Estévez’s Canata Criolla for Future Commercial Release on Programs Featuring Prokofiev’s Blockbuster Romeo & Juliet Suite and Copland’s El Salón Mexico

Plus:

– An Intimate Evening with David Foster and Katharine McPhee (w/o orchestra)

– Ndlovu Youth Choir (w/o orchestra)

– Jefferson Starship with the Nashville Symphony

– Buddy Guy: Damn Right Farewell Tour (w/o orchestra)

– An Evening with Jeffrey Osborne & Peabo Bryson (w/o orchestra)

– John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Concert Celebration with the Nashville Symphony

– “Merry Christmas, Love” Featuring Joss Stone with the Nashville Symphony

The Nashville Symphony’s November 2023 schedule features two classical concerts featuring blockbuster symphonic works paired with contemporary pieces that will be live-recorded for future commercial release; a presentation of R&B icons, Buddy Guy’s farewell tour, a symphonic John Denver tribute, and a holiday concert featuring Joss Stone. Listed concerts, dates, times, and pricing subject to change.

Corea’s Concerto + Romeo & Juliet (November 2nd – 4th)

Nashville Symphony | Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor | Joseph Alessi, trombone

Karol Szymanowski: Concert Overture
Chick Corea: Trombone Concerto | Live Recording
Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite

New York Philharmonic principal trombonist Joseph Alessi — a veritable rock star among American brass players — takes center stage with a work written for him by the late, great jazz legend Chick Corea, premiered with Giancarlo Guerrero in São Paolo. Szymanowski’s Concert Overture is an exuberant concert opener, and Giancarlo ties it all together with Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite, which perfectly captures the drama and heartbreak of Shakespeare’s immortal story.

An Intimate Evening with David Foster and Katharine McPhee (November 5th)

16-time GRAMMY® award-winning musician, composer, and producer DAVID FOSTER and acclaimed singer, television, and Broadway star KATHARINE MCPHEE are joining forces and bringing their show on the road.

This intimate show with the powerhouse duo will be packed with David’s hits, from Chicago, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, and Katharine’s biggest songs from American Idol, Smash, and Waitress. Plus some of their favorites that they just love!

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

Ndlovu Youth Choir (November 6th)

If you caught them as finalists on America’s Got Talent, you won’t want to miss the Ndlovu Youth Choir’s one-night-only stop at the Schermerhorn November 6 as part of their first US tour! The choir’s soul-stirring performances have won hearts and minds around the world with their high-energy performances, mesmerizing choreography, and shared message of hope, love and togetherness.

Singing in all 11 South African languages–including Zulu, Xhosa, and English, their music also incorporates traditional South African genres such as isicathamiya, a style popularized by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Their repertoire also includes ancient tribal chants, inspirational gospel, contemporary Afro-Pop and Jazz by Hugh Masakela and Miriam Makeba, as well as original songs describing African life with a call for African unity.

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

Jefferson Starship with the Nashville Symphony (November 9th – 11th)

Nashville Symphony | Enrico Lopez-Yañez, conductor | Jefferson Starship

When founding member Paul Kantner split from Jefferson Airplane and formed Jefferson Starship in the ’70s, he envisioned the band as a cast of musical adventurers, contributing to his epic concept albums and eventual deep catalog of rock classics. When the current lineup of the band came together alongside Kantner as a unit in 2012, with many members joining years before, he couldn’t have imagined that the band would become the road-conquering heroes they’ve been in the last few years.

Now their music is reborn in this special collaboration with the Nashville Symphony.

In addition to original member David Freiberg, the band includes drummer Donny Baldwin (whose Jefferson Starship roots go back to 1982), keyboardist Chris Smith (who joined in 1998), guitarist Jude Gold (who joined in 2012), and singer and guitarist Cathy Richardson (who joined in 2008), after Kantner saw her tour with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Copland, Piazzolla, and Estévez (November 17th & 18th)

Aaron Copland: El Salón México
Astor Piazzolla: Sinfonía Buenos Aires
Antonio Estévez: Cantata Criolla | Live Recording

When Aaron Copland first visited Mexico, he remarked, “Mexico has turned out even grander than I expected, and I expected pretty grand things.” El Salón Mexico draws upon that sentiment, headlining a program inspired by Latin America’s beauty and culture. Piazzolla’s Sinfonía Buenos Aires captures the tango’s provocative essence, and Giancarlo Guerrero has invited Aquiles Machado and Juan Tomás Martinez as soloists for Antonio Estévez’s Cantata Criolla, a Faustian singing contest between Florentino and the Devil.

Buddy Guy: Damn Right Farewell Tour (November 20th)

Guy’s Damn Right Farewell tour will see The Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award winner performing hits from throughout his career, in addition to his new #1 album. Amid his core classics you’ll hear new fan favorites from the project, including “Gunsmoke Blues” ft. Jason Isbell, the forever timely and spellbinding “We Go Back” with Mavis Staples, and a harmonious collaboration with James Taylor on “Follow the Money.” The follow up to his sixth Billboard #1 album The Blues Is Alive And Well, the Blues Album chart-topper reunited with his Grammy Award winning producer/songwriter and longtime collaborator Tom Hambridge, who rejoins him on tour, to bring audience members even more emotionally-charged music with even more bone-chilling hard earned lyrics and lessons that continue to garner critical recognition and praise.

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

An Evening with Jeffrey Osborne & Peabo Bryson (November 21st)

Two of R&B’s most beloved artists perform a night of silky-smooth soul at the Schermerhorn. Jeffrey Osborne performs selections from his sparkling solo career, which includes “On the Wings of Love” and “You Should Be Mine.” Known for classic Disney tunes including “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole New World,” Peabo Bryson headlines the evening with favorites like “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again,” “Can You Stop the Rain” and “Let the Feeling Flow.”

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Celebration with the Nashville Symphony (November 28th)

Members of the legendary GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter John Denver’s band join the Nashville Symphony for a special concert featuring archival video footage of Denver performing holiday classics and favorite hits. Hear John Denver’s voice, see vintage John Denver performance videos, and hear stories told by old friends. From “Jingle Bells” and “O Holy Night” to Denver’s most beloved hits including “Annie’s Song,” “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Leaving On A Jet Plane,” and “Rocky Mountain High,” it’ll feel like John Denver is in the room.

With Chris Nole (piano), Alan Deremo (bass), Nate Barnes (drums), Mack Bailey (guitar, vocals), Jon Conley (guitar, mandolin).

“Merry Christmas, Love” Featuring Joss Stone with the Nashville Symphony (November 29th)

Nashville Symphony | Nathan Aspinall, conductor | Joss Stone

The soulful and wildly talented Joss Stone makes her Schermerhorn debut with the Nashville Symphony. Known internationally for her debut album The Soul Sessions, this British singer’s meg-hits include “Super Duper Love,” “Right to be Wrong,” “Free Me,” “L-O-V-E,” and “Fell in Love with a Boy.” Catch Ms. Stone along with the Nashville Symphony as they deliver a holiday-themed concert filled with Christmas favorites and soulful hits.

The Nashville Symphony has been the primary ambassador for classical music in Music City since 1946. Led by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, the ensemble is internationally acclaimed for its focus on contemporary American orchestral music through collaborations with composers including Jennifer Higdon, Terry Riley, Joan Tower and Aaron Jay Kernis; commissioning and recording projects with Nashville–based artists including Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Ben Folds and Victor Wooten; and for its 14 GRAMMY® Awards. In addition to the classical season, the orchestra performs concerts in a wide range of genres, from pops to live–to–film movie scores, family–focused presentations, holiday events, jazz and cabaret evenings, and is the official orchestra for the Nashville Ballet.

An established leader in the Nashville and regional arts and cultural communities, the Symphony spearheads groundbreaking community partnerships and initiatives, notably, Violins of Hope Nashville, which engaged tens of thousands of Middle Tennesseans through concerts, exhibits, lectures by spotlighting a historic collection of instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Similarly, this spring, the Nashville Symphony presented the world premiere of an epic opera commissioned from Hannibal Lokumbe, The Jonah Project: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph. Retracing his family’s ancestry and journey from slavery to the present day, Hannibal’s story celebrates the spirit of those who endured and thrived to become Black visionaries and world changers. More at nashvillesymphony.org

In addition to support from Metro Arts and Tennessee Arts Commission, Nashville Symphony is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP5534 awarded to the State of Tennessee by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.