After an extensive search of nearly two years, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has appointed Jonathon Heyward as its Music Director. The 29-year-old conductor, who received rave reviews and standing ovations from audiences at his BSO debut in March, will begin his first five-year term in September 2023. He will serve as appointed Music Director of the BSO from the beginning of the 2022-23 season and will work with the orchestra's senior management team on a bold long-term artistic strategy. In his first year as Music Director, Heyward will spend eight weeks with the BSO, increasing to at least eleven weeks in subsequent seasons, and will become the only American currently leading one of the major orchestras of his country.
"It is an enormous honor to join the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at this exciting moment in its long and celebrated history," says Jonathan Heyward. "I believe we have a wonderful opportunity to build on the orchestra's legendary achievements under Marin Alsop's truly inspired leadership, including her founding of the BSO's OrchKids program, and to explore the many ways we can reach the greatest number of people at home and abroad. I am passionate about the power of symphonic music to bring an audience together and to speak to all communities. The irresistible artistry, energy and optimism of the Baltimore Symphony were clear to me from the very first moment we rehearsed together earlier this year. We shared a special chemistry then and in the concerts we have given since. I look forward to seeing where that can take us in the coming years."
Mark Hanson, President & CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, is delighted with the appointment of the organization's new artistic director. "Jonathon Heyward is the ideal person to serve as the next Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony because of his deep musicality, warm personality, exceptional communication skills, innate curiosity and admirable desire to make symphonic music more accessible and relevant," he notes. "Jonathan has already inspired both the orchestra and the audience - his vibrant talent, bold programming and passionate commitment to the community will further strengthen our relationship with the many communities in Maryland. I am delighted to welcome Jonathan to the BSO family and to work with someone who shares my optimism about the future of the BSO and believes in the importance of sharing live musical performances with as many people as possible."
Following his BSO debut, Heyward was invited to conduct the orchestra's Benefit Concert for Ukraine. The program featured, among other works, Valentyn Silvestrov's Hymn - 2001, whose composer fled his native Kiev earlier this year to find shelter in Berlin, Brahms' Tragic Overture and the finale of Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony. Details of Jonathan Heyward's repertoire plans for the BSO will be announced in the future, but his broader artistic intentions include preserving and enhancing the orchestra's unique sound, shaping programming philosophy and strengthening the commitment to innovative performance practices.
"Both at his debut in March and at our Benefit Concert for Ukraine in April, there was immediately a special bond between Jonathan and the musicians of the BSO," notes Mark Hanson. "Our colleagues in the orchestra greatly appreciate his musicality, enthusiasm, positivity and listening skills. We all on stage and in the audience admire his passion for the symphonic repertoire and his belief in the power of live music to change and improve lives. Jonathan and the entire BSO family are committed to programming compelling and inspiring concerts that demonstrate our shared belief in classical music as a living and evolving art form."
Jonathon Heyward, born in Charleston, South Carolina, began his musical education as a cellist at age ten and began conducting while still in school. He studied conducting at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where he became assistant conductor of the institution's opera department and of the Boston Opera Collaborative, and received postdoctoral lessons from Sian Edwards at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Before leaving the conservatory, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, where he was mentored by Sir Mark Elder, and became Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra. His debut with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the 2021 BBC Proms received five-star reviews and was praised by British newspaper The Guardian as "an unforgettable showcase of energetic collaboration".
Heyward's commitment to education and community work deepened during his three years with the Hallé and flourished further since taking up his position as Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in January 2021. He is equally committed to incorporating new music into his inventive concert programs. These qualities were clearly evident in his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut concert, featuring The Spark Catchers by Hannah Kendall, Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto and the BSO's very first performance of Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony.
Since its founding in 1916, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has been a source of pride for the citizens of Baltimore and a beacon of musical excellence. The orchestra's international reputation grew under the eminent leadership of Sergiu Comissiona and has since been further strengthened by his successors, David Zinman, Yuri Temirkanov, and Marin Alsop (2007-21). Since 1982, the BSO has been housed in the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, a legacy of Ukraine-born Baltimore businessman and philanthropist Joseph Meyerhoff. The BSO also presents a regular concert series at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, and gives concerts in the city of Frederick and at Chesapeake College. In addition to its acclaimed work in the concert hall and on cd, the BSO has an extensive community program and various ensembles under the umbrella of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras.