Jonathon Heyward

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  • Conductor

About Jonathon

Music Director: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director & Music Director: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center

Jonathon Heyward took up the Music Director position of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 23/24; an extension of his contract was recently announced until 2030/31. He also holds the Artistic and Music Director positions with the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center.

This season, he returns to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, and makes his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Recent highlights include concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Castilla y León Symphony, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and at the BBC Proms with Chineke! In the US, he has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others.

He made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, debut conducting Hannah Kendall’s Knife of Down, and led the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s Wake, in a production by Graham Vick for the Birmingham Opera Company. He also conducted Weill’s Lost in the Stars with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and, last season, launched a four-year ‘Verdi Opera Initiative’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, commencing with performances of Aida, he returns next summer to lead Rigoletto.

Jonathon is a passionate advocate for music education and community outreach. He has been recognised among TIME magazine’s ‘Next Generation Leaders’ and Bloomberg’s ‘Ones to Watch’.

Contact

Henry Lindsay

Henry Lindsay

Associate Director
Jemima Pickersgill

Jemima Pickersgill

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management

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Season Highlights

Oct 2025
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
GRACE-EVANGELINE MASON: The Imagined Forest MOZART: Piano Concerto no. 20 RESPIGHI: Fountains of Rome RESPIGHI: Pines of Rome Yeol Eum Son (piano) 9 October, 2025 | DR Koncerthuset, Copenhagen
Feb 2026
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
BOULANGER: D’un Matin de printemps “Of a Spring Morning” TAN DUN: The Tears of Nature STRAVINSKY: Le Sacre du printemps “The Rite of Spring” Edouard Beyens (percussion) 28 February, 2026 | Music Center at Strathmore, Maryland US
Mar 2026
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
DVOŘÁK: In Nature’s Realm GRACE-EVANGELINE MASON: New Work (world premiere) MAHLER: Das lied von der Erde “Song of the Earth” Russell Thomas (tenor) Sasha Cooke (mezzo-soprano) 8 March, 2026 | Music Centre at Strathmore, North Bethesda
Apr 2026
London Philharmonic Orchestra
DVOŘÁK: In Nature’s Realm BRAHMS: Double Concerto for violin and cello SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4 Pieter Schoeman (violin) Kristina Blaumane (cello) 10 April, 2026 | Royal Festival Hall, London
May 2026
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24 SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 8 Yeol Eum Son (piano) 7, 8 & 9 May, 2026 | Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Tel Aviv 10 May, 2026 | Baruch and Ruth Rappaport Center for Art and Culture, Haifa
May 2026
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
SMYTH: Overture to The Wreckers COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Violin Concerto ELGAR: Enigma VariationsElena Urioste (violin) 28 May, 2026 | Music Centre at Strathmore, North Bethesda
Jun 2026
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
VERDI: Rigoletto Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto) Raven McMillon (Gilda) Andrew Owens (Duke of Mantua) Peixin Chen (Sparafucile) J’Nai Bridges (Maddalena) Christian Pursell (Count Monterone) The Washington Chorus Dr. Eugene Rogers (artistic director) 28 May, 2026 | Music Centre at Strathmore, North Bethesda

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  • Coleridge-Taylor, Shostakovich & Coleman

    Chineke! Orchestra
    Sep 2025

    • **** ...Jonathon Heyward put his own indelible stamp on a varied yet satisfying program... They performed it with vigour and spirit, while Heyward kept its likable blend of late-Victorian tunefulness and proto-Hollywood glitz gossamer-light... Heyward’s adroit reading was full of subtle shadow...

  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

    Aug 2023

    • If you could build the perfect Baltimore Symphony Orchestra maestro in a lab, they might look a lot like Jonathon Heyward... a wonderful conductor... developing an instant simpatico with the orchestra and earning praise from The Washington Post for, among other things, “coaxing wonderfully responsive playing from across the strings.” The world is taking notice...

  • Beethoven & Shostakovich

    Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
    Mar 2022

    • ...conductor Heyward is fascinating to watch. Without a baton, he sometimes signaled the orchestra in balletic gestures, sweeping his hands across long arcs or shaping phrases in circular motions, like a potter at the wheel. Elsewhere it looked as if he were holding invisible teacups in each hand, swinging them to keep the beat. It all worked... Heyward proved himself a sophisticated interpreter... He kept every detail in place, manicured and neatly articulated, and the balances between sections of the orchestra was superb... Musically polished and compelling...

  • Ravel & Mahler

    Scottish Chamber Orchestra
    Dec 2021

    • ***** ...young US conductor Jonathan Heyward stepped in at short notice and did a marvellously incisive job, all clipped rhythms and bristling precision, drawing vivid playing from the SCO musicians.

  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra