Baylor Grad Giancarlo Guerrero (BM ‘91) Conducts at 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show
From Costa Rica to Baylor and on to the Super Bowl, Giancarlo Guerrero's story inspires us all.
Before the unforgettable Bad Bunny Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, many in the Baylor Music-sphere and beyond know the name Giancarlo Guerrero (BM ‘91) and are familiar with the six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor who led the Nashville Symphony for 16 years. He’s now kicked off his first season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago and has stepped into the role of Music Director of Sarasota Orchestra, becoming the seventh conductor to hold the appointment since the Orchestra’s founding in 1949.
"The work we do in Waco doesn't stay in Waco," said Dean of the School of Music Kevin Sanders. "Giancarlo Guerrero's journey from our halls to conducting in the Super Bowl halftime show is proof. We're honored to have been part of his story and proud to see a Baylor alum on one of the world's biggest stages."
Giancarlo Guerrero (BM '91) conducts string musicians during "Monaco" at Bad Bunny's 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Photo credit: Grant Park Music Festival
Giancarlo (BM '91) and wife Shirley Guerrero with Bad Bunny. Photo credit: Grant Park Music Festival
Baylor is proud to have celebrated Guerrero’s many achievements since graduating in 1991 with his Bachelor of Music Degree in Percussion Performance. Not everyone knows his origin story, however, when he first came to Waco, Texas as a teenager.
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Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Guerrero was raised in Costa Rica, played in the Costa Rica Youth Symphony, and, while still in his teens, became a percussionist with the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra. Thanks to the international talent recruitment efforts of the late Dr. Larry VanLandingham (professor emeritus of Percussion) and generous donors from the Baylor School of Music, Giancarlo was one of several music students who came to Baylor from Costa Rica in the 1980s.
“I came to Baylor in 1987, and I did not speak any English. Coming from San Jose, Costa Rica to Waco, Texas was like coming from Earth to Pluto. It was a culture shock, and I remember arriving at the Greyhound station around two o'clock in the morning, and Dr. Larry VanLandingham (or Dr. V) was waiting for me. From the moment I arrived, he just made me feel at home.
He came up with the most perfect idea for making this Costa Rican kid not only learn English but make friends. He signed me up for the Golden Wave marching band, strapped a snare drum on me and literally threw me onto the field. There was a little problem though – I had never been on a football field. So, when Michael Haithcock, who was the Director of Bands at the time, said, ‘Drumline, go to the 20-yard line,’ I didn’t know where that was. For the first couple of weeks, I kept running into the tubas and the piccolos.
But within a week my English was improving, and I made tons of friends, many of which, to this day, I still keep in touch with and am very close to. I was a part of this university, and the environment was so ideal that it didn't matter that I was coming from Costa Rica or that my English was very limited. Everybody, not only the faculty members but also my fellow students, made sure that I felt welcome. I will never forget their generosity, and I will never forget their kindness.”
Surprisingly, Guerrero never intended to be a conductor. He came to Baylor to be a percussionist. But he was required to take other classes, such as Composition and Conducting. Haithcock told Guerrero he had some natural talent and could be a great conductor. The rest is history.
“Even when I was a student here, the level was absolutely remarkable. Some of the best musicians and artists I’ve met happened to be some of my fellow students and have gone on to have great careers and like me are very proud Baylor Bear grads.”
During his undergrad, Guerrero was a member of the Golden Wave Band and the Baylor Symphony Orchestra. While he earned his Percussion degree, he also studied conducting with Michael Haithcock and Reverend Conductor Stephen Heyde (former Mary Franks Thompson Professor of Orchestral Studies and Conductor-in-Residence at Baylor).
Guerrero received the 2022 Baylor Medal of Service for Contributions to the Professions and has even served on the Board of Advocates for the School of Music.
“I was very fortunate that Baylor University gave me, perhaps, the most important opportunity in my life and has allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming a musician. To this day, every time I mention Baylor, I do it with a smile because those four years were some of the happiest in my life, in a place that carried so many memories, but at the same time gave me the opportunity and more importantly set me in the right path professionally and personally to be able to pursue my dream.”
In the 2025-26 season, Guerrero continues to add to his extensive discography with the Nashville Symphony with the release of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Conquest Requiem and a recording of concertos by Jennifer Higdon, Brad Warnaar, and Chick Corea, out in November and December 2025, respectively on Naxos American Classics.