Carlos Miguel Prieto’s charismatic conducting and dynamic, expressive interpretations have led to major engagements and popular acclaim throughout North America and Europe, as well as internationally. The 2017–2018 season marks his 12th as music director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), where he has played a significant role in the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School, Mr. Prieto is a highly influential cultural leader as well as the leading Mexican conductor of his generation. He has been the music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México (OSN), the country’s most important orchestra, since 2007. Having conducted more than 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, Mr. Prieto is renowned for championing and commissioning the music of Latin American composers. In November 2016, he led the OSN on a critically acclaimed nine-concert tour of Germany and Austria, performing works by Mexican and Latin American composers in halls such as Vienna’s Musikverein.

In fall 2017, Mr. Prieto made his debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the LA Phil New Music Group, and returned to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, and Beijing Symphony Orchestra. He began 2018 conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in an all-Ginastera program. In spring 2018, Mr. Prieto returns to the Hallé Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra alongside his regular appearances in Spain conducting the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Valencia Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias.

Mr. Prieto’s recent recordings include works by Bruch, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn with violinist Philippe Quint and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería on Avanticlassic, and Korngold’s Violin Concerto on Naxos, which received two Grammy nominations. In 2013, Mr. Prieto released a 12-DVD set of live recordings of the complete symphonies of Mahler as part of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería’s 35th anniversary season.

A passionate proponent of music education, Mr. Prieto served as principal conductor of the YOA Orchestra of the Americas from its inception until 2011, when he was appointed music director. In early 2010, he conducted the ensemble alongside Valery Gergiev on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the World Economic Forum at Carnegie Hall.

Jim Atwood began as timpanist with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (now the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1988 under Music Director Maxim Shostakovich. Mr. Atwood’s performing experiences over five decades are many and varied, ranging from the recording studios of the advertising world (where he also was a writer and arranger) to performances in concert halls around the world as timpanist and percussionist with the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra and at the Colorado Music Festival, and has given several concerto performances with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Atwood has performed with many orchestras and chamber music groups, including the Hamburger Symphoniker, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Bläserquintett der Staatskapelle Berlin. Most recently, he appeared as a featured artist at the Festival Internacional de Percusión Patagonia in Argentina.

Mr. Atwood teaches at Loyola University in New Orleans and for almost two decades has been the director of the nationally renowned Cloyd Duff Timpani Master Class. He has appeared in master classes, clinics, and percussion festival events across the country in presentations that cover every aspect of the timpanist’s art and craft. 

Paul Yancich is the timpanist of The Cleveland Orchestra, appointed in 1981 by Lorin Maazel. Prior to that he served as timpanist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Shaw. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he is co-chair of the percussion department and director of the percussion ensemble. Mr. Yancich’s timpani and percussion students have held positions in more than 50 orchestras and colleges in the US and internationally.

Mr. Yancich is the fourth generation of professional musicians, composers, conductors, and educators. He has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Huntsville, Atlanta, and Cleveland, including in two world premieres by composer James Oliverio. Mr. Yancich is a native of Rochester, New York, and a product of the public school program. His teachers and mentors were renowned timpanists and percussionists who included Cloyd Duff, Richard Weiner, Bill Street, William Cahn, and Saul Goodman. He credits his teachers, parents, and high school band director, Richard Snook, for his career in music.

Steeped in history yet focused on innovation, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is the only full-time collaboratively governed and operated orchestra in the United States. Rooted in a culturally diverse community with a 200-year orchestral music tradition, the LPO sets the standard for orchestral programming and performance in Louisiana. For its 67 musicians, achieving the highest level of artistry is integrally linked with a deeply personal investment in the organization and surrounding community. Audiences hear, see, and feel the increased passion and enthusiasm that results from the musicians’ involvement in planning each performance.

As the only full-time professional orchestra in the state, the LPO curates eclectic, expansive concert seasons in five municipalities across the Greater New Orleans area, and provides education and community engagement programming that serves a 12-parish region. From intimate chamber music performances to exhilarating classics and dynamic pops presentations, the LPO produces a comprehensive spectrum of concert programming that balances boundary-pushing, exploratory repertoire with established masterworks.