From Mexico, conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto

Throughout his career, Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto has prioritized music education and mentorship. He has led the Orchestra of the Americas — consisting of musicians from ages 18 to 30, representing more than 25 countries of the Western Hemisphere — since the ensemble’s inception in 2002, and he currently serves as music director. He has also worked regularly with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the NYO2, Carnegie Hall’s free orchestral program for 14- to 16-year-olds.

Earlier this year, Prieto conducted the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s training ensemble for young professional musicians. When Prieto returns to Symphony Center this winter, he will be leading the Sinfónica de Minería, one of Mexico’s premier classical music ensembles. Since its founding in 1978, Sinfónica de Minería has become an integral part of Mexico’s cultural life. It has been lauded for its challenging repertoire of works never or rarely heard in Mexico and its ongoing interest in institutionalizing excellence. 

For its Symphony Center debut on Jan. 18, in an SCP Featured Concert, Sinfónica de Minería and Prieto will offer a program of works by Silvestre Revueltas, along with concertos by Haydn and Paquito D’Rivera, performed by the esteemed Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores.

Under Prieto, the ensemble’s artistic director, Sinfónica de Minería has taken its place as one of the most dynamic, acclaimed and prestigious ensembles in Latin America, as evidenced by its Grammy nomination for its recording of the Korngold Violin Concerto with Philippe Quint. Prieto also is music director of the North Carolina Symphony.

A Grammy Award winner who was Musical America’s 2019 Conductor of the Year, Prieto feels that the legacy of the Civic Orchestra and similar programs is apparent in the remarkable success of their alumni. “People who play at the level of organizations such as Civic, or New World in Miami, or the conservatories that I go to, Orchestra of the Americas, etc., all these orchestras that I conduct — there’s hardly ever a professional orchestra that I go to where I don’t see, in the first rehearsal, at least a dozen faces who I recognize from these groups,” Prieto said.

“The fact that those young musicians have gone on to such stellar careers is something that just makes me extremely happy.”

A portion of this article appeared previously on Experience CSO.