This concert is the North Carolina Symphony debut for Na'Zir McFadden.

American conductor Na’Zir McFadden is the Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), under the guidance of Music Director Jader Bignamini. He also serves as Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra. His 2023/24 season includes a debut with the New Mexico Philharmonic, a return to the Philadelphia Ballet, and serving as a guest cover conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

As a 2024 Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellow, McFadden will conduct the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in numerous performances, and participate in master classes led by Andris Nelsons, Alan Gilbert, and Dima Slobodeniouk.

Other career highlights have included debuts with the Utah Symphony and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, McFadden led a recording project with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago—featuring Hilary Hahn as co-collaborator and soloist.

In 2020, McFadden was named the inaugural Apprentice Conductor of the Philadelphia Ballet; a position he held until 2022. He also served as the Robert L. Poster Conducting Apprentice of the New York Youth Symphony from 2020 to 2021.

At the age of 16, he conducted his hometown orchestra—The Philadelphia Orchestra—in their “Pop-Up” series, meeting their Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who has been a mentor ever since. The Philadelphia Inquirer praised his “great stick [baton] technique and energetic presence on the podium” in their concert review.