The Maxine and Benjamin Swalin Chair
Mexican conductor and Grammy-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto 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 Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the country’s leading ensemble. He was also Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006 to 2023, where he helped lead the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and won a Grammy in 2024. In 2008, he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (OSM), which he has led to a Latin Grammy nomination, a Grammy award, and a residence in 2024 at Bravo! Vail.
Recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, and Auckland Philharmonia.
Prieto is in demand as a guest conductor for North American orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra; the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Toronto; the Minnesota Orchestra; and the San Francisco, Houston, and New World symphonies. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2023 and led the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 2024.
Since 2002 Prieto has conducted the Orchestra of the Americas, which draws young musicians from the entire American continent—serving as Principal Conductor until 2011, when he was appointed Music Director. He has also worked with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the NYO2 in New York.
Prieto has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many commissioned by him. He 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 and was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, he studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo.
