Orchestra Residency 2024

Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is a testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Among his many roles, Ma is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, the first artist ever appointed to the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees, and the founder of the global music collective Silkroad. His discography of more than 120 albums (including 19 Grammy Award winners) ranges from iconic renditions of the Western classical canon to recordings that defy categorization. Born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, he began studying the cello with his father at age four and three years later moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies at The Juilliard School before pursuing a liberal arts education at Harvard.

Kayhan Kalhor, is an internationally acclaimed kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle) virtuoso. Born in Tehran, Kalhor was a child prodigy who was invited to join the Iranian National Radio and Television Orchestra at age 13. At 17, he began working with the Shayda Ensemble, at the time the most prestigious arts organization in Iran, while continuing to study the Iranian classical repertoire. He has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists and his commissions include works written for the Kronos Quartet and the Silk Road Project.

Carlos Miguel Prieto is considered the leading Mexican conductor of his generation. A highly respected cultural leader, Prieto is Musical America’s 2019 Conductor of the Year. He possesses a wide-ranging repertoire, has led over 100 world premieres, and is a champion of American and Latin American composers. Prieto serves as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony and Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico, and Music Director of the Orchestra of the Americas. Prieto is a graduate of Princeton University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.