The North Carolina Symphony and Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto Announce 2024/25 Season

The North Carolina Symphony and Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto Announce 2024/25 Season

NCS performs more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings for all ages in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

Highlights include Errollyn Wallen’s Violin Concerto, a NCS co-commission; recent works by Michael Abels, Rhiannon Giddens, Oswald Huỳnh, Anthony Kelley, Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha’ Tate, Elena Langer, Caroline Shaw, Cindy McTee, Gabriela Ortiz, and John Williams; masterworks of Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák, Haydn, Liszt, Mahler, Mozart, Prokofiev, Schubert, Sibelius, R. Strauss, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, and more; as well as robust Pops programming and UNC Health Summerfest 2024.

Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto leads NCS in twelve programs celebrating close artistic collaborations and exemplifying his inventive, wide-ranging programming.

New Commissions by Composers in Residence Dr. Anthony Kelley and Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha’ Tate to Receive World Premieres in 2025/26 Season. Artists making their first NCS appearances include conductors Anna Handler, Anna Rakitina, and Marie Jacquot; pianists Jorge Federico Osorio, Brian Woods, Isata Kanneh-Mason, and Marie-Ange Nguci; cellist Pablo Ferrández; and vocalist Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha; NCS also welcomes returning artists including conductors Lawrence Loh, Brent Havens, Stephanie Childress, and Leonard Slatkin; pianists Stephen Hough, Olga Kern, and Alessio Bax; and violinists James Ehnes, Philippe Quint, and Stella Chen.

Expanded access with new NCS for All free and discounted concert tickets for educators and first responders; newcomer specials welcoming residents new to the state; and partnerships with colleges across the state.

Raleigh, NC – Today, North Carolina Symphony (NCS) and Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto announce the 2024/25 season, the 92nd of NCS and Prieto’s second as Music Director. Joined by acclaimed guests in programming that spans from beloved classics to the music of today, NCS will perform matinee and evening concerts alongside robust educational programs, at home in Raleigh and across the state of North Carolina, in service to all. NCS also shares programming for the upcoming 2024 UNC Health Summerfest series Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary, NC. Additional programming, community concerts, and educational offerings created for audiences from the mountains to the sea will be announced at a later date.

“For more than nine decades, the music of the North Carolina Symphony has brought together people all over this great state. I am deeply honored to work with the spectacular musicians of this world class orchestra to present a varied and fascinating 2024/25 season. Many of the guest artists and composers featured in the season have been close artistic collaborators and dear friends of mine. I am certain they will captivate our audience. I invite everyone to join our NCS family for engaging, transformative musical experiences, together!” said Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto.

“The upcoming season is one that we can’t wait to share with audiences statewide,” shared Joe Bastian, Chair of NCS Board of Trustees. “We are honored to serve as a cornerstone of the cultural life of this state and to have so many opportunities to connect communities across North Carolina through music. It is thrilling to continue this new artistic chapter with Carlos’ leadership.”

Sandi Macdonald, President & CEO of NCS, said, “Carlos is indeed exactly the right visionary for NCS today—and for our future! Statewide, audiences are responding to his energy and warmth, as well as to his brilliant programming and artistic collaborators. Carlos shares the orchestra’s commitment to creating extraordinary musical experiences for all people across our state, to whom this orchestra belongs. With this in mind, we create concert and educational experiences that deepen our connections to each other through music. Our 2024/25 season embodies NCS’s mission of music-based service and education, and we look forward to connecting with our extended family in all 100 NC counties and in the digital space through online resources for teachers and students.”

Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto is celebrated worldwide for his collaborative style, charismatic conducting, and expressive interpretations; for premiering and personally commissioning works by composers of the Americas; and for his efforts to foster cultural exchange through music. Beginning his relationship with NCS as a guest conductor in 2011, Prieto has led the orchestra in a range of adventurous programs featuring works by Anna Clyne, Gabriela Ortiz, and many others.

Each year, NCS performs more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings reaching adults and schoolchildren in all 100 North Carolina counties—in a variety of venues based in communities large and small, as well as through online programming. In addition, NCS leads one of the nation’s most extensive symphony orchestra education programs—serving over 150,000 students annually. Now, in partnership with Carlos Miguel Prieto, a community-focused artistic visionary, NCS is poised to thrive long into the future in service through music to a growing audience statewide and around the world via the digital space.

Highlights of 2024/25 season with Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto

Prieto opens the 2024/25 season with a work by close collaborator Gabriela Ortiz, whose work he champions and from whom he has personally commissioned three works. Ortiz’s Téenek: Invenciones de Territorio is followed by Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, performed by frequent guest violinist James Ehnes, the program concludes with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.

Errollyn Wallen’s Violin Concerto, a NCS co-commission, will receive its North Carolina Symphony premiere in October 2024 with Prieto and violinist Philippe Quint, who last performed with NCS in 2018. The international commissioning cohort for Wallen’s Violin Concerto is comprised of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (world premiere), Kansas City Symphony (US premiere), North Carolina Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Brevard Music Center Summer Festival, and Magdeburgische Philharmonie.

Prieto and NCS welcome some of the world’s most distinguished soloists as 2024/25 collaborators, including Stephen Hough performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and James Ehnes performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, both frequent guests; Pablo Ferrández performing Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain… concerto for cello and orchestra; and soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha performing R. Strauss’ Four Last Songs.

With pianist Isata Kenneh-Mason in her first NCS appearances, Prieto leads a program of Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 7, with Michael Abels’ Delights & Dances, a work for string quartet and string orchestra. Prieto also leads NCS in works by two NC natives, Rhiannon Giddens and Caroline Shaw. Psalm 23, from the opera Omar, was written by Giddens with Michael Abels and won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize.

Standing alongside works by composers of today, Prieto’s broad programming features masterworks by Bach, Handel, Brahms, Sibelius, Beethoven, Dutilleux, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart, Mahler, Schubert, Ravel, Stravinsky, Wagner, and more. Prieto conducts the Ring Without Words, orchestral highlights from Wagner’s four operas arranged by Lorin Maazel.

NCS partners with notable guest conductors, including a UNC Health Summerfest program and the first NCS appearance by Anna Handler; the return of Stephanie Childress to the classical series in a program including Oswald Huỳnh’s “Then, as if breathing, the sea swelled beneath us.”; Anna Rakitina in performances featuring Elena Langer’s Leonora’s Dream; and Leonard Slatkin leading Cindy McTee’s Timepiece.

The 2024/25 NCS season features performances of more than ten works new to the orchestra’s repertoire, including seven by composers of today.

Pops, Specials, Holiday, and Family Programming

Woven throughout the upcoming season, NCS offers engaging pops concerts, which feature the broadest spectrum of musical styles. Pops offerings will include a celebration of John Williams’ film music; evening and matinee performances with vocalist/pianist Michael Cavanaugh honoring the music of talented singers and songwriters including Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, and James Taylor; classic love songs with returning vocalists Chester Gregory and Shayna Steele; and performances showcasing the music of the rock bands Queen and Chicago.

For the holidays, Prieto leads selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Handel’s Messiah with the North Carolina Master Chorale in a new special Classical Christmas with Carlos concert. The sounds of the season continue with NCS’s A Candlelight Christmas, featuring popular holiday classics, and Cirque Holiday Pops, with NCS accompanied by Cirque de la Symphonie’s aerial acrobats and contortionists.

Each year, NCS includes concert experiences designed for families in its Young People’s Concerts, special matinee performances offered throughout the season. NCS also performs more than a dozen free Concerts in Your Community in communities across North Carolina. NCS will announce family concerts and free concerts in spring 2024.

UNC Health Summerfest, May 25 – July 13, 2024

North Carolina Symphony’s summer concert series UNC Health Summerfest features a variety of classical, pops, and rock favorites under the stars at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, NC.

NCS Associate Conductor Michelle Di Russo leads the UNC Health Summerfest opener, Tchaikovsky Spectacular, plus Steep Canyon Rangers and Classical Favorites. UNC Health Summerfest guest conductors include Anna Handler, Lawrence Loh, and Na’Zir McFadden in works from Bernstein, Debussy, Haydn, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky as well as a program in celebration of the legendary John Williams. Music of the Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, and Joni Mitchell will also be performed by NCS in masterful symphonic arrangements. Featured collaborators include the high-flying aerobatics of Cirque de la Symphonie and beach music favorites with The Catalinas, a Charlotte, NC band, now in its 6th decade. North Carolina Symphony’s Summerfest Series is presented by UNC Health, sponsored by First Citizens Bank, and hosted by the Town of Cary.

Composers in Residence and New Commissions: Dr. Anthony Kelley and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate

Joining Dr. Anthony Kelley, NCS Composer in Residence since 2022, NCS welcomes Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha’ Tate as Composer in Residence. Tate’s residency begins with a commission by NCS of a new work which will receive its world premiere performances during the 2025/26 season, Prieto’s third as Music Director. This new relationship will be introduced to NCS family during the 2024/25 season, with Tate’s Chokfi’ included in NCS’s Music Education Concerts across the state. Chokfi’ (choke-fee) is the Chickasaw word for rabbit, who is an important trickster legend within Southeast American Indian cultures.

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (Chickasaw) is an American Indian classical composer and pianist who expresses his native culture in symphonic music, ballet, and opera. His works have been commissioned by major North American orchestras, ensembles, and organizations and are performed throughout the world. NCS is grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for its support of Tate’s commission.

The 2025 world premiere of NCS-commissioned work by Tate will feature baritone Grant Youngblood. This currently untitled work will be based in Lumbee legend.

Dr. Anthony Kelley’s commission Spirituals of Liberation received world premiere performances during the 2022/23 NCS season, including the Juneteenth Freedom Celebration during the UNC Health Summerfest series at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, NC. A new NCS commission by Kelley is set to receive its world premiere in 2025. Kelley, a native of Henderson, NC, is currently Professor of the Practice of Music and Director of Undergraduate Studies of Music at Duke University.

NCS Across the State and Western NC Residency

The North Carolina Symphony launched a Western Residency in 2023, sharing music with over 20,000 people in 24 counties in Western, NC. This annual residency includes performances of NCS flagship Education Concerts for elementary students, as well as PNC Grow Up Great Music Discovery for preschoolers, music clinics for middle and high schoolers, and free Concerts in Your Community.

The Western NC Residency complements the robust investment NCS makes to serve audiences statewide. Details for the 2024/25 Western NC Residency will be announced in fall 2024.

The North Carolina Symphony will announce details for its upcoming concert series across the state in spring 2024, including:

• Chapel Hill Series, Memorial Hall, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Wilmington Series, Wilson Center, Cape Fear Community College
• New Bern Series, New Bern Riverfront Convention Center
• Moore County Series, Owens Auditorium at Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst

NCS Educational Offerings for All: Families, Teachers, Children, and Adults; New Pre-Concert Chamber Music and Discussion

NCS performs more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings for audiences of all ages in each of the state’s 100 counties. Through live performances in a variety of venues, as well as online programming, NCS’s expansive educational programming serves over 150,000 students each year. For the 2024/25 season, NCS will offer:

• Young People’s Series, Meymandi Concert Hall, Raleigh including six one-hour matinee concerts created for families, sponsored by WakeMed Children’s.
• Free Concerts in Your Community. Annually, NCS performs more than a dozen concerts across the state performed free of charge.
• The North Carolina Symphony’s Music Discovery program, a part of PNC’s Grow Up Great initiative, combining music and storytelling for our youngest audiences. NCS musicians travel to libraries, museums, community centers, and Head Start classrooms across the state to share favorite storybooks and introduce children to instruments of the orchestra.
• “What Makes Music, Music?,” education concerts for grades 3-5 that explore core musical concepts through a varied range of cultures and composers. In alignment with curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers to prepare students for NCS Education Concerts.
• Ensembles in the Schools, a learning program with a wind quintet and a string quartet, designed to give an interactive performance that reinforces the fundamentals of music and demonstrates the teamwork involved in music-making.

The North Carolina Symphony’s statewide education programs are supported by the State of North Carolina, Lead Education Sustainers Truist and the John William Pope Foundation, and many other generous statewide education supporters.

The North Carolina Symphony is proud to present Concert Insights, a pre-concert offering for audience members to discover more about the performance of the evening. These 30-minute Concert Insights now feature regular chamber music performances by NCS musicians along with conversations with guest artists and instrument demonstrations. Concert Insights are free to ticket holders for evening classical concerts at Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall.

NCS for All: Expanded Access to NCS Concerts

New NCS for All access initiatives include free and discounted concert tickets:

• NCS Thanks NC Heroes! Educators and first responders statewide will now receive free and discounted NCS concert tickets to select performances.
• NCS Newcomer Specials. NCS will welcome residents new to the state to concerts in numerous statewide venues with special two-for-one ticket packages.
• College Comps at NCS. In addition to $10 tickets for select concerts, NCS partnerships with colleges across the state offer complimentary tickets to students.
• Kids 12 and under are admitted free on the lawn to UNC Health Summerfest concerts.

Subscriptions are available for Raleigh Classical and Pops series at ncsymphony.org or by calling 919.733.2750. Follow NCS social media for statewide season updates and single ticket on-sale dates at facebook.com/ncsymphony and instagram.com/ncsymphony.

PREMIERES AND FIRST PERFORMANCES

ARTIST DEBUTS

Guest ConductorsNa’Zir McFadden (June 7, 2024)Anna Handler (June 21, 2024)Kevin Fitzgerald (June 22, 2024)Anna Rakitina (January 10-11, 2025)Marie Jacquot (April 25-26, 2025)

PianistsRodolfo Leone (May 25, 2024)Jorge Federico Osorio (October 18-19, 2024)Brian Woods (November 1-2, 2024)Isata Kanneh-Mason (February 14-15, 2025)Marie-Ange Nguci (April 25-26, 2025)

CellistPablo Ferrández (January 24/25, 2025)

VocalistsSwearingen and Kelli (July 6, 2024)Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (April 11-12, 2025)

RETURNING ARTISTS

Guest ConductorsLawrence Loh (May 31, 2024 and October 11-12, 2024)Brent Havens (June 29, 2024)Stephanie Childress (November 1-2, 2024)Leonard Slatkin (March 7-8, 2025)

PianistsStephen Hough (November 15-16, 2024)Michael Cavanaugh (and vocalist) (January 17-18, 2025)Olga Kern (March 7-8, 2025)Alessio Bax (May 9-10, 2025)

ViolinistsJames Ehnes (September 20-21, 2024)Philippe Quint (October 25-26, 2024)Stella Chen (January 10-11, 2025)

VocalistsChester Gregory, (February 7-8, 2025)Shayna Steele (February 7-8, 2025)

About Carlos Miguel Prieto

Known for his charisma and expressive interpretations, Mexican conductor and Grammy-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto is a major figure in the orchestra world and also as an influential cultural leader, an educator, and a champion of new music. In a significant career development, he 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 the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the country’s leading ensemble, and significantly raised the caliber of the orchestra. 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. In 2008, he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (OSM), which he led to a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Music Album.

Recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Spanish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and Auckland Philharmonia.

Prieto is in demand as a guest conductor with many of the top North American orchestras, including Cleveland, Dallas, Toronto, Minnesota, Washington, New World, and Houston. He has enjoyed a particularly successful relationship with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony. In 2023, Prieto made his hugely successful BBC Proms debut at Royal Albert Hall.

Since 2002, alongside Gustavo Dudamel, Prieto has conducted the Orchestra of the Americas, which draws young musicians from the entire American continent. A staunch proponent of music education, Prieto served as Principal Conductor of the YOA from its inception until 2011 when he was appointed Music Director. In 2018 he conducted the orchestra on a tour of European summer festivals, which included performances at the Rheingau and Edinburgh festivals as well as Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. He has also worked regularly with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the NYO2 in New York.

Prieto is renowned for championing Latin American music as well as his dedication to new music. He has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many of which were commissioned by him. Prieto 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 that includes Deutsche Gramophone, Naxos, and Sony labels. Prieto was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Prieto studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo.

About the North Carolina Symphony

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is a vital and honored component of North Carolina’s cultural life. Each year, more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings reach adults and schoolchildren in all 100 North Carolina counties—in communities large and small, and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. NCS is proud to expand access to audiences around the globe through concerts and educational offerings available through the digital space.

The Symphony performs under the artistic leadership of Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto. NCS’s state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, and the Symphony’s service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Wilmington, New Bern, and Pinehurst, as well as the UNC Health Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world’s greatest talents to North Carolina and embraces home-state artists from classical musicians to bluegrass bands, creating live music experiences distinctive to North Carolina. NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art and has presented more than 50 U.S. or world premieres in its history.

Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads one of the most extensive education programs of any symphony orchestra in the country—serving over 150,000 students each year. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra in-person and online Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life. Music Discovery for preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences.

The North Carolina Symphony gratefully acknowledges financial support from Wake County, the City of Raleigh, and the State of North Carolina.