About this Artist

Known for his charisma and expressive interpretations, Mexican conductor and Grammy winner Carlos Miguel Prieto has established himself not just as a major figure in the orchestra world but also as an influential cultural leader, an educator, and a champion of new music. In a significant career development, he started his tenure as Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony at the beginning of the 2023/24 season.

From 2007 to 2022, Prieto was the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the country’s leading ensemble, and significantly raised the caliber of the orchestra. He was also Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006 to 2023, during which time he helped lead the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (OSM), which he led to a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Music Album. In 2023, Prieto led OSM in a highly successful tour of the United States, and it returns in 2024 to perform in residence at Bravo! Vail.

Recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Spanish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and Auckland Philharmonia.

Prieto is in demand as a guest conductor with many of the top North American orchestras, including Cleveland, Dallas, Toronto, Minnesota, Washington, New World, and Houston. He has enjoyed a particularly successful relationship with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and he made his hugely successful BBC Proms debut at Royal Albert Hall in 2023.

Since 2002, alongside Gustavo Dudamel, Prieto has conducted the Orchestra of the Americas, which draws young musicians from both continents. A staunch proponent of music education, Prieto served as Principal Conductor of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA) from its inception until 2011, when he was appointed Music Director. In 2018, he conducted the orchestra on a tour of European summer festivals, which included performances at the Rheingau and Edinburgh festivals as well as Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. He has also worked regularly with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the NYO2 in New York.

Prieto is renowned for championing Latin American music as well as for his dedication to new music. He has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many of which were commissioned by him. Prieto places equal importance on championing works by Black and African American composers such as Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Courtney Bryan, among others.

Prieto has an extensive discography that includes releases on the Deutsche Gramophon, Naxos, and Sony labels. He was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Prieto studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo.