About Carlos
“Ágreda looks every inch a conductor. His technique is admirably economical, with the left hand kept out of the way whenever it is not needed for expressive molding of phrases, and displaying also an ample supply of charisma he created the feeling that this could well be a major career in the making.”
—Seen and Heard International
Carlos Ágreda is a Colombian orchestra conductor whose rapidly rising international career has earned early acclaim on major stages across the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Recognized for his expressive musicality and leadership both on and off the podium, Carlos was named a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2023–24 season and served as Associate Conductor of Carnegie Hall’s NYO National Youth Orchestra of the USA.
Carlos has led Colombia’s foremost orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the Bogotá Philharmonic, the Medellín Philharmonic, and the Filarmónica Joven de Colomba including a national tour with this orchestra and acclaimed performances at Germany’s Rheingau Musik Festival. He has also appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Opera Philadelphia, Manchester Camerata, Curtis Opera Theatre, Teatro Municipal de Lima, and Teatro Colón in Bogotá, among others. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Juanjo Mena, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Zubin Mehta, Sir Andrew Davis, Simone Young, Michael Tilson Thomas, Cristian Măcelaru, and Leonard Slatkin. Upcoming engagements include debuts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Concepción (Chile).
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Carlos also holds a master’s degree in conducting from the Royal Northern College of Music (UK). At age 22, he advanced to the third round of the Cadaqués International Conducting Competition, and in 2022 received a prize at the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, conducting both the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
Carlos interests in repertoire spans the core symphonic European tradition of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, as well as opera, choral repertoire, and a wide spectrum of contemporary, electronic, and improvised music, with a particular commitment to music of the Americas. A dedicated advocate for new music, he is also an award-winning composer and arranger and has conducted more than fifty world premieres. He has been featured at leading contemporary music festivals, including the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.
Deeply committed to musical versatility, Carlos is passionate about celebrating the diversity of symphonic music, while he is equally at home collaborating across genres — whether performing piano with salsa and tango ensembles or working with folkloric groups as an arranger — continually seeking to bridge musical languages. Through this multifaceted artistic identity, Carlos Ágreda likes to embody the spirit of the 21st-century musician.
Carlos has been featured in national and international media including Forbes Life Latam, La Voz de América (USA), The Violin Channel, Revista Semana, Caracol Radio, La W Radio Colombia, and the television program Los Informantes (Caracol Televisión). In 2021, Forbes named him one of Colombia’s “50 Most Creative People.”
His commitment to education has led to collaborations with El Sistema–inspired initiatives such as Play On Philly (USA) and Sinfonía por el Perú, as well as youth orchestras including the Filarmónica Joven de Colombia, Empire State Youth Orchestra (USA), Stockport Youth Orchestra (UK), Orquesta Filarmónica Juvenil de Bogotá, and others.