He has been the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the country’s most important orchestra, since 2007. Prieto has also been Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since 2006, where he has led the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In 2008 he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, a hand-picked orchestra which performs a two-month long series of summer programmes in Mexico City and in 2021, Prieto was appointed as Artistic Advisor for the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and the Los Angeles New Music Group. Prieto is in great demand as a guest conductor with many of the top North American orchestra and has enjoyed a particularly close and successful relationship with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2002, alongside Gustavo Dudamel, Prieto has conducted the Youth 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 early 2010 he conducted the YOA alongside Valery Gergiev on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the World Economic Forum at Carnegie Hall. 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, amongst others. Prieto has an extensive discography that covers labels including Naxos and Sony.

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Carlos Miguel Prieto studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo.