At the April 9 event in the Samberg Conference Center, Prieto spoke about his formative years at MIT and his subsequent career as a professional cellist. The talk was followed by performances of J.S. Bach's 'Cello Suite No. 3' and Eugenio 'Toussaint's Bachriation.' Valerie Chen, a 2022 Sudler Prize winner and Emerson/Harris Fellow, also performed Phillip Glass's 'Orbit.' Prieto was born in Mexico City and began studying the cello when he was 4. He graduated from MIT with BS degrees in 1959 in Course 3, then called the Metallurgical Engineering and today Materials Science and Engineering, and in Course 14 (Economics). He was the first cello and soloist of the MIT Symphony Orchestra. While at MIT, he took all available courses in Russian, which allowed him, years later, to study at Lomonosov University in Moscow. 'When I returned to Mexico, I was very active in my business life, but I was also very active in my music life,' he told the audience. 'And at one moment, the music overcame...
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