Carlos Miguel Prieto began his tenure as music director of the North Carolina Symphony at the beginning of the 2023–24 season, and was previously music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México and the Louisiana Philharmonic, where 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, which he led to a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Album.

Recent highlights include engagements with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, London Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and Auckland Philharmonia. He made his BBC Proms debut at Royal Albert Hall last year, and made his San Francisco Symphony debut in November 2022.

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

Mr. Prieto has an extensive discography on Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, and Sony. He was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year, and graduated from Princeton and Harvard.

Pablo Sáinz-Villegas has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, and appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. He performs this season with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Florida’s Naples Symphony, and Houston Symphony, in addition to tours of Colombia, Taiwan, and Europe. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in July 2012.

Mr. Sáinz-Villegas has also performed on a floating stage adrift on the Amazon River and performed before members of the Spanish royal family and the Dali Lama. He has won the Andrés Segovia, Francisco Tárrega, and Christopher Parkening awards, and released three albums on Sony Classical, most recently The Blue Album.

A socially committed artist, Mr. Sáinz-Villegas founded the philanthropic project El Legado de la Música Sin Fronteras in 2006, through which he has shared his music with young people worldwide. He is also the founder of the nonprofit organization Strings in Common, which champions the cultural power of the guitar as an instrument with the ability to represent numerous international traditions. As an advocate for the classical guitar repertoire, he has commissioned numerous works including the first guitar piece by John Williams and a duo with Yo-Yo Ma.