An exciting and insightful communicator renowned for his charismatic presence on the conductor’s podium and his versatile command of various composers and styles, Music Director CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO is considered one of the most dynamic young conductors on the classical stage today. Currently music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in his native Mexico, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in the United States, Maestro Prieto is also in high demand as a guest conductor, and has conducted orchestras throughout Europe, Russia, Israel and Latin America.

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VALERY GERGIEV, Guest Conductor 
Presently Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev is also founder and Artistic Director of the Stars of the White Nights Festival and New Horizons Festival in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Easter Festival, the Gergiev Rotterdam Festival, the Mikkeli International Festival, and the Red Sea Festival in Eilat, Israel. Valery Gergiev’s inspired leadership as Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre since 1988 has taken Mariinsky ensembles to 45 countries. Maestro Gergiev is the recipient of a Grammy Award, the Dmitri Shostakovich Award, Golden Mask Award, People’s Artist of Russia Award, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award, Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, Netherlands’s Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion, Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Valencia’s (Italy) Silver Medal, the Herbert von Karajan prize and France’s Royal Order of the Legion of Honor.

LEONARD SLATKIN, Guest Conductor
Internationally renowned American conductor Leonard Slatkin begins his appointment as the 12th Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra commencing with the 2008-2009 season, and also serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, another new association. He completed his 12th and final season as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2007-2008. Mr. Slatkin continues as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Advisor to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. His performances throughout North America, Europe and the Far East have been distinguished by imaginative programming and highly praised interpretations of both the standard and contemporary symphonic repertoire. Additionally, he is well-known for his arts advocacy work on behalf of music education.

CHRISTOPHER WILKINS, Guest Conductor
Christopher Wilkins was appointed Music Director of the Orlando Philharmonic in the fall of 2005. Under his leadership, it has become a priority to partner with artists and organizations throughout the central Florida area, including Orlando Ballet, Orlando Opera, Mad Cow Theatre, the "Negro Spiritual" Scholarship Foundation, and the Orlando Museum of Art. He has also worked with both of this city's principal youth orchestras, and with music students throughout the area, especially the vocal students of Jones High School. In addition to the Orlando Philharmonic, Mr. Wilkins serves as Music Director of the Akron Symphony in Ohio.

ILYICH RIVAS - Guest Conductor
Born in 1993, Venezuelan conductor Ilyich Rivas is a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra-Peabody Institute Conducting Fellow. In addition to working closely with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra alongside Marin Alsop, as well as conducting the BSO, Rivas has led performances with some of the worlds most distinguished soloists including Lang Lang, and at the age of 17 has conducted international orchestras ranging from the Verbier Festival Orchestra to NEOJIBA.

Sensational podium talent, Former Principal Conductor GUSTAVO DUDAMEL is presently Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has served as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela since 1999, and in 2005 he was appointed Music Director of Orquesta Sinfónica de Juventudes de los Paises Andinos and Principal Conductor of Youth Orchestra of the Americas. In September 2007, he assumed the post of Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden, and made his début with the New York, Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras.

ISAAC KARABTCHEVSKY, Guest Conductor
Brazilian conductor and musician of international fame, Isaac Karabtchevsky led the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro until 1988 when he moved to Vienna to take over Tonkünstlerorchester. In 1995 Maestro Karabtchevsky became Artistic Director of Grande Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Since 2003, he has served as Director of Symphonic Orchestra of Porto Alegre (OSPA) in Brazil.

ANTONIO TORNERO, Guest Conductor
Antonio Tornero is the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Juvenil del Estado de Veracruz (Youth Symphony Orchestra of the state of Veracruz) and the General Director of the Superior Institute of music of the state of Veracruz in Xalapa, México. Maestro Tornero received his training in the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory of Music in Lenningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. He has served as Assistant Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Mexico City, where he worked with Eduard van Remortel, Charles Dutoit, George Sebastian Mata, and Eduardo Mata, among others. He has appeared with orchestras in the United States, Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Czech Republic, England, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, and the Phillipines.

BENJAMIN ZANDER, Guest Conductor
Benjamin Zander has been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) since its formation twenty-five years ago. To celebrate the orchestra's 25th Anniversary in 2003-2004, the BPO will perform an all-Mahler season, including a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony in Carnegie Hall. Over the last decade, Benjamin Zander has been a guest conductor all over the world, appearing frequently with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. In 2002 Mr. Zander made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic, and returned to conduct four performances of Mahler's Third Symphony with the orchestra in 2003.

DAVID ROBERT COLEMAN, Guest Conductor
As of September 2006 David Robert Coleman is associate-conductor and assistant to Maestro Kent Nagano at the Bavarian State Opera Munich. In autumn 2009 he will debut with the Bavarian State Orchestra in two ballet productions, "Chamber Symphony" and "Der Sturm". Other important upcoming events include a debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) in April 2008 in a concert that will see the premiere of a new piece of his for clarinet and orchestra written for Robert Crowley. David Robert Coleman is also undertaking a tour with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie to Mexico in spring 2008 for a series concerts, one of which will be televised from the Teatro Bellas Artes. The repertoire includes Brahm's 4th Symphony and Penderecki's viola concerto. Since 2004 David Robert Coleman has worked closely with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. He has conducted the YOA in Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina

LORIN MAAZEL, Guest Conductor
For over five decades, Lorin Maazel has been one of the world’s most esteemed and sought-after conductors. He currently holds two prominent music directorships, which together with a wide range of guest conducting engagements, encompass an extraordinary breadth of activity. He is in his sixth season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, which is not only the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States but also the world’s most prolific, having given over 14,000 concerts since its founding. At the other end of the historical spectrum, Maestro Maazel is also Music Director of a newly created musical organization: the spectacular, Santiago Calatrava-designed opera house in Valencia, Spain, the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (which opened with the start of the 2006-07 season).

HELMUTH RILLING, Guest Conductor
Conductor and pedagogue, Helmuth Rilling is founder and director of Gachinger Kantorei Stuttgart. As a lifetime ambassador for Johann Sebastian Bach, Mr. Rilling guided International Bachakademie’s critically-acclaimed recording compilation of all Bach’s works on 172 CDs – a project that has received high international recognition. In 1970 Helmuth Rilling became Artistic Director of the Oregon Bach Festival which has since become one of the USA’s most prestigious music festivals.

DANTE ANZOLINI, Guest Conductor 
Dante Anzolini has conducted with great success in Europe, North and South America. He is currently Music Director of the Orchestra of the Teatro Argentino Opera Theater, in La Plata, Argentina, and principal guest Conductor of the Linz Theater in Linz, Austria. Dante Anzolini's Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Philip Glass' opera "Satyagraha" in April 2008 was an outstanding success with significant critical praise. Dante Anzolini was named "Best Conductor of the year 2006" by the Critics Association of Argentina. His past engagements have included a debut with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at Vienna's Musikverein, in September 2007, opera and ballet performances (Verdi's Othelo and Delibes' Coppelia) at the Linz Theater in Austria, and five concerts per season with the Teatro Argentino Orchestra.

ANNE MANSON, Guest Conductor
Anne Manson is recognized throughout the world for her conducting achievements. She was the first woman to conduct at the Salzburg Festival, where she led the Vienna Philharmonic and a cast that included Samuel Ramey and Philip Langridge in a production of Boris Godunov which met with great critical acclaim. Ms. Manson is one of only three women to have been appointed Music Director of a leading American symphony orchestra, having served as Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony from 1999 to 2003.

JEAN-PASCAL HAMELIN, Guest Conductor
Jean-Pascal Hamelin is currently Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Philharmonia Mundi Orchestra of Montréal. He is also principal conductor of Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Sherbrooke. In June of 2008, Maestro Hamelin was invited to conduct the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA) in Medellin, Colombia, for the inauguration concert of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States. Highlights of the 2008 season include a concert as guest-conductor with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, and an all-Grieg anniversary concert featuring pianist Louis Lortie in the in A minor Piano Concerto. Mr. Hamelin is also a co-founder and artistic director of the recording label PALEXA (1996).

KENT NAGANO, Guest Conductor
Unquestionably one of the world’s foremost conductors, Kent Nagano is presently Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera and the Montréal Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he became principal conductor and artistic director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 2000, and served in this position until 2006. He made a number of recordings with the orchestra, including selections of Ludwig van Beethoven, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Bruckner, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Gustav Mahler. Nagano became principal conductor at Los Angeles Opera (LA Opera) starting from the 2001-2002 season. In May 2003, Nagano was named the LA Opera's first ever Music Director, and retained this position through 2006.

PLÁCIDO DOMINGO, Guest Conductor
As a conductor Maestro Domingo has led opera performances in all the important theaters from the Metropolitan to London's Covent Garden and the Vienna State Opera and has conducted purely symphonic concerts with such renowned orchestras as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony and the Chicago Symphony, while also making recordings as a conductor. Maestro Domingo is General Director of both the Washington National Opera and of the Los Angeles Opera. Maestro Domingo sings in every important Opera House in the world and has made an unparalleled amount of recordings of which 101 are full-length operas, often recording the same role more than once, and for which he has earned nine Grammy's and two Grammy's in the newly established Latin Division.

MARCELO LEHNINGER, Guest Conductor
Brazilian conductor Marcelo Lehninged has led the Petrobrás Symphony Orchestra, the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Sao Paulo, Paraná Symphony Orchestra, Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Brazil) and the National University of Cuyo Symphony Orchestra in Mendoza, Argentina.  In the United States, he has guest conducted the NSO (Washington DC) and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, among other engagements. Mr. Lehninger was selected by Kurt Masur to be part in the First Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship and traveled for one month as Maestro Masur’s assistant in the National of France, Gewandhaus and New York Philharmonic orchestras.