Justin Bruns joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as assistant concertmaster in 2006 and was appointed associate concertmaster this past fall after winning a national audition for the position. In the summer he serves as concertmaster of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Before moving to Atlanta, Bruns was assistant concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and served as concertmaster of the Boulder Bach Festival. He has also played with the Houston and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, and toured Germany with the American Sinfonietta. He has spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival, Beijing Music Festival, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, Music in the Mountains Festival and Conservatory in Durango, CO, and Bellingham Music Festival. He has been a guest concertmaster with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, IRIS Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Louisville Orchestra and São Paulo Symphony (OSESP).

Actively involved in teaching and bringing music to young audiences, he maintains a private teaching studio and regularly gives master classes, orchestral excerpt courses and chamber music coachings. Through programs of the ASO, he has taught and mentored students in the Talent Development Program, coaches sections of the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra, and strives to build relationships with schools and other civic organizations through Community Engagement and Outreach. He served as a teaching assistant at Rice University and participated in the founding and organization of its outreach program. He regularly appeared with Chamber Music Ann Arbor’s outreach program and throughout Colorado with Up Close and Musical. He has served as director of chamber music at Kennesaw State University.

As a chamber musician, Bruns has performed throughout the United States and England. He has appeared on the Faculty Tuesdays Series at the University of Colorado, with the String in the Mountains Music Festival and Michigan Chamber Players. He has also performed cycles of the Brahms, Beethoven and late Mozart sonatas. In the Atlanta area, he has performed with Georgian Chamber Players, Sonic Generator, Bent Frequency, KSU Faculty Chamber Music, ASO Chamber Music Concerts and the North Georgia Music Festival. While he was first violinist of Atlanta Chamber Players, he appeared at the San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival and made his chamber music debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

Violinist Justin Bruns began his studies at age three and won his first competition two years later. He made his solo debut with an orchestra at age nine. Since then, he has appeared with numerous orchestras throughout the US, South America, and the UK. Bruns graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan and was awarded the top prize upon graduation, the Stanley Medal. He received his master’s degree from Rice University. Performance highlights of this year are a series of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, performances in Lima, Peru, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, and at the Lake Tahoe Music Festival.

Known for his charisma and expressive interpretations, Mexican conductor and GRAMMY-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto has established himself not just as a major figure in the orchestra world but 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 Sinfónica de Minería, which he led to a Latin GRAMMY-nomination for Best Classical Music Album. In 2023, Prieto led Minería in a highly successful tour of the United States, and in 2024 they return to perform in residence at Bravo! Vail Music Festival.

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.

Venezuelan-American violist Adriana Linares is one of today's most talented artists. She has an active career as a chamber musician, conductor, teacher, mentor, and entrepreneur.

Her playing has been called "meltingly beautiful" by Naxos label reviewers, her performances and recordings have received international acclaim in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada and the USA. She was described by Grammy Award-winning violist Roger Tapping as "an artist of extraordinary merit and ability who is not only excellent but also distinctive, characterful and individual."

Ms. Linares is the founding President, and Artistic Director of The Arts & Community Network (ArCoNet), a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 based in North Wales, PA. Under the umbrella of ArCoNet, Ms. Linares has launched innovating music programs including a string academy with 120 students, a youth and chamber orchestra, intensive solo boot camp retreats, the Dalí Quartet International Music Festival, college preparatory courses, community outreach partnerships and collaborative projects. Ms. Linares has mentored hundreds of students with successful careers in the music field, as performers, educators and arts administrators.

Ms. Linares is also the founding violist of the award winning Dalí Quartet, with whom she has embarked on recording, performing and educational projects in the US and abroad. She currently serves on the faculty at West Chester University of PA, as part of the Dalí Quartet residency. She regularly performs as principal and assistant principal viola with the Iris Collective, and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Linares was recently appointed to be in the board of directors of Chamber Music America.

Recent performing collaborations include performances and recordings with acclaimed pianist Olga Kern, and clarinetist Ricardo Morales. Highlights of solo engagements include her debut at Carnegie Hall with the US première of Venezuelan composer Modesta Bor's Sonata, and the world première of Howard Hanson's Summer Sea Side #2, recorded under the NAXOS label.

Ms. Linares holds a Master’s Degree in Viola Performance from Temple University, where she studied with violist and Curtis Institute of Music President Roberto Diaz. She also holds a bachelor's degree from Indiana University where she studied with distinguished violist Atar Arad. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, traveling, power walks, the outdoors, and spending time with her family and friends.

A concert cellist and educator of international renown, Jesús Castro-Balbi has performed extensively across the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and Asia - including at Carnegie Hall, Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Seoul Arts Center, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, and Suntory Hall - and as a soloist with the Aarhus, Dallas, and Fort Worth symphony orchestras; the Leipzig and the Norwegian radio orchestras; and the China, Louisiana, and Mexico City philharmonic orchestras. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, he has presented 54 premiere performances and the world premiere recording of 19 works, and he is the dedicatee of 29 compositions. He taught at The Juilliard School (Pre-College Division) before developing a sought-after cello program at Texas Christian University. He has given masterclasses and has adjudicated prestigious competitions worldwide, including the Carlos Prieto and the Lutoslawski international competitions. Of Peruvian heritage, Dr. Castro-Balbi graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur at Lyon (France), Indiana University Bloomington, the Yale School of Music, and holds a doctor of musical arts degree from The Juilliard School. He is currently a professor of music at Kennesaw State University in metro Atlanta. Please visit www.jcbcello.com.

One of the most dazzling American pianists of her generation, Anne-Marie McDermott has played concertos, recitals, and chamber music in hundreds of cities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is one of the most versatile, respected, and best-reviewed pianists of our time. McDermott continues her tenure as artistic director of the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, in Colorado, through 2026, which hosts world-renowned artists and orchestras from around the world. She is also the artistic director of the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival, in Florida.  

Highlights of McDermott’s 2024-25 season include three performances of the Piano Concerto by the 20th-century American composer Amy Cheney Beach with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with which she makes her subscription debut, and with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA); her debut in Galway, Ireland, performing music by Bach, Busoni, and Brahms at a Music for Galway recital; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra (KY); Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Des Moines Symphony, Palm Beach Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA (WA); performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and on tour in Chicago, Grand Rapids, Kansas City, Ashland (OR), and Vienna (VA); a special chamber music program at the New World Symphony, in Miami Beach, that includes Mozart’s Quintet in E-flat major and Olivier Messiaen’s wartime masterwork Quartet for the End of Time; performances as a member of the SPA Trio—with soprano Susanna Phillips and violist Paul Neubauer—at the Rockefeller University (New York City), and at Arizona Friends of Chamber Music (Tucson); and a chamber music program at the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, in Stillwater (OK).  

McDermott’s 2023-24 season included performances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, both resulting in immediate re-engagements. She also performed Mozart with the New York Philharmonic at the McKnight Center in Stillwater. Recent international highlights include recitals in France at the famed Piano aux Jacobins, in Toulouse; performances with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra at the Cartagena International Music Festival; and an all-Haydn recital tour of China.   

The breadth of McDermott’s repertoire ranges from Bach, Haydn, and Beethoven to Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Scriabin, also including works by today’s most influential composers. A recording artist, McDermott is currently recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Mexico City’s illustrious Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, under conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. She has also recorded the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev, solo works by Chopin, Bach’s English Suites and Partitas (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine), and Gershwin’s complete works for piano and orchestra with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (also Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine). In 2013 she released an album of Mozart concertos with the Calder Quartet that was praised as “exceptional on every count” by Gramophone Magazine. She has recorded five Haydn piano sonatas and two Haydn concertos with the Odense Philharmonic, in Denmark, including two cadenzas written by the late American composer Charles Wuorinen.   

In recent years, McDermott participated in the New Century Chamber Orchestra’s Silver Jubilee all-Gershwin program and embarked on a cycle of Beethoven concertos at Santa Fe Pro Musica. She also premiered and recorded a new concerto by the Danish composer Poul Ruders with the Vancouver Symphony, alongside Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations, and returned to play Gershwin with the New York Philharmonic at Bravo! Vail. Other recent highlights include performing the Mozart Concerto, K. 595 with The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Sir Donald Runnicles; the Bach D minor concerto with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra; and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the New York City-based Le Train Bleu.  

McDermott continues to perform with many leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the symphonies of Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Colorado, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, San Diego, New Jersey, Columbus, and Baltimore. She has also toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi.

McDermott, who studied at the Manhattan School of Music, is a winner of the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women, the Young Concert Artists auditions, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She lives in New York City with her husband Michael.

Gabriela Jiménez is a professional musician originally from Mexico City, who stands out for the originality of her interpretations, as well as for being the creator of her own sound and style, emphasizing the figure and importance of the timpanist and the percussionist inside and outside the orchestra, as an interdisciplinary and happy artist. As a member of the Sinfónica de Minería since 1991, she has played under the artistic direction of the four main conductors, Maestros Jorge Velazco, Luis Herrera de la Fuente, Carlos Spierer, and Carlos Miguel Prieto.

She has performed, recorded, and/or presented nationally and internationally with innumerable orchestral, chamber, and solo works by great composers of all time, such as the orchestral works of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok, Bruckner, Berio, etc., as well as the Concertos for Percussionist or Timpanist Soloist (some have been international, national or state premieres) by Gabriela Ortíz (who dedicated the Voltaje Concerto to him, commissioned by the Minería in 2013), David Noon, Yuri Chugúyev, Ney Rosauro, Ricardo Risco, Robert Kurka, among others, under the artistic direction of important directors of national and international prestige.

Throughout her career she has performed as part of the World Orchestra for Peace (WOP), also participated in Festivals in Mexico and abroad, such as the UNAM Percussion Weeks, CHIAPAS MX Marimba Festivals, MOSCOW Sound Universe, etc. She has also been awarded with different Awards and Medals, such as: Mozart AUSTRIA-MÉXICO, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz UNAM, UNAM University Teaching Merit, Excellence in Teaching Anáhuac MX, George Schick MSM USA, National Youth OSEM, Fulbright Benito Juárez Scholarship (IIE), Tanglewood (TMCO/BSO), CONACULTA, etc.

She has stood out as a prominent Percussion Specialist teacher for decades worldwide; some of her students stand out in numerous professional orchestras, or as teachers in the area. Recently retired due to retirement from the OFCM and the FaM UNAM, she is currently the principal timpanist and head of the percussion section of the Sinfónica de Minería, soloist, lecturer, workshop leader, teacher, and frequent guest juror.

Javier Perez graduated from the National Music Conservatory in Mexico City with a specialty of percussion. A member of the Sinfónica de Minería, he is also the principal timpanist and of the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has performed with the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, the Polytechnic Institute Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico City Philharmonic, the Queretaro Philharmonic, the Oaxaca Symphony Orchestra and the UAEH Symphony Orchestra as well as timpanist for the Eduardo Mata Youth Orchestra and the Carlos Chavez Youth Orchestra.

A participant in international tours with the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sinfónica de Minería,. Tours included England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium and many more.

He toured with the Sinfónica de Minería, in 2023, 2024, and in the upcoming 2025 tour to the United States.

Based in Mexico City he is member of the Sinfónica de Minería and previously former principal percussionist of the Puebla State Symphony (OSEP) He is a very active musician in the most important orchestras in Mexico and a resident of the Paax and Urtext festivals, as well as a member of the Lluvia de Palos quartet of contemporary music with pre-Hispanic instruments. He has participated in multiple projects, concerts and festivals in Canada, United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Poland, Italy, and Russia. He was a teacher and director of the percussion ensemble in the National System for Musical Promotion in Mexico.

Miguel has been a member of the Sinfónica de Minería for over 20 years, Miguel studied in the Superior School of Music in Mexico City. Has over 13 years of musical theater experience.

He was a member of the Marine Symphonic Band that won first prize in the Military Band contest held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia in 1978.

He has toured extensively in Mexico, Europe, United States, and Asia with the Mexican National Symphony, The Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra, the Mexico City Philharmonic and the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the genre of pops he has worked in Mexico and abroad with Rocío Dúrcal, Juan Gabriel, Jose Jose, Lupita D’alessio among others. He has also performed with singers Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Tony Bennett, Ray Coniff, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Marco has been a member of the Sinfónica de Minería since 2013.

Principally an orchestral percussionist he has collaborated with all of Mexico's top orchestras. He has toured extensively in the United States and Europe including the Helzberg Hall/Kaufman Center (Kansas City), Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Auditorio Parco della Musica (Roma, Italia), and the United Nations (New York).

As a member of the Fourtissimo Percussion Ensemble he has premiered more than 10 commissioned works. As a soloist he has performed the Garbage Concerto by Jan Jarvlepp with the Eduardo Mata Youth Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Instituto Politécnico Nacional. He is also active in musical theater where he performs on marimba and drum set. 

He has studied marimba and chamber music with Ludwig Albert, Nanae Mimura, Chin Cheng Lin and Seung-Myeong Oh, in Sint-Truiden, Bélgica. His teacher was Gabriela Jimenez in the UNAM Music School.

He was born in Donbass, Ukrane, when it was part of the Soviet Union. He began his musical studies on cello at the age of seven. Later he studied double bass with Evgeny Kolosov at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He graduated with a master's degree in solos, chamber music and teaching.

He was a soloist with the Academy of Ancient Music of the Moscow Philharmonic, member of the Russian National Symphony, Principal in the New Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Orquesta de Baja California among others.

Currently living in Mexico City where he is Principal in the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches at the National Conservatory and the Ollie Yoliztli Music School. He has been a member of the Sinfonica de Mineria since 2003 and Principal since 2004. He has been a soloist with the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra, the Eduardo Mata Youth Orchestra as well as others.