Carlos Miguel Prieto – Music Director Laureate
Carlos Miguel Prieto’s charismatic conducting and dynamic interpretations have led to engagements and acclaim throughout the Americas, Europe, and internationally. Musical America recognized his artistry by naming him 2019 Conductor of the Year.
Since 2005, Prieto has been Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), where he has been a part of the cultural revitalization of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. On February 27, 2018, he led the LPO in its Carnegie Hall debut in a concert celebrating the 80th birthday of composer Philip Glass.
Prieto’s 2019/2020 season includes his debut with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and returns to the NDR Elbphilharmonie, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Juilliard Orchestra, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
As a guest conductor, Prieto has worked extensively with leading international orchestras, including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Detroit Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, The Hallé, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington D.C.), National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta de Valencia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, RTE National Orchestra, and RTVE Symphony Orchestra.
Prieto has been the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México (OSN) since 2007 and of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería since 2008. A renowned champion of music by Latin American composers, Prieto led the OSN on a critically-acclaimed nine-concert tour of Germany and Austria performing the works of Mexican and Latin American composers in halls such as the Wiener Musikverein in November 2016.
Prieto is renowned for championing and commissioning the music of Latin American composers having conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers.
Prieto’s most recent recording with The Orchestra of the Americas was the critically-acclaimed Pan-American Reflections, including works by Copland and Chavez. Other recordings include violin concertos by Elgar and Finzi with Ning Feng, works by Bruch, Beethoven and Mendelssohn with Philippe Quint, and a twice Grammy-nominated recording of Korngold’s Violin Concerto. In 2013, Prieto released a 12-DVD set of live recordings of the complete Mahler symphonies as part of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería’s 35th season.
A passionate proponent of music education, Prieto served as Principal Conductor of The Orchestra of the Americas from its inception in 2002 until 2011, when he was appointed Music Director. In summer 2019, Prieto led the The Orchestra of the Americas on tour through Mexico and in summer 2020, he will travel to Panama and Russia with the ensemble. Prieto led Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 in 2018 and 2019, and in 2020 he will return with NYO-USA leading a performance at Carnegie Hall and a North American tour.
In April 2018, Prieto was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music by Loyola University New Orleans. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School.