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Jonathon Heyward

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Jonathon Heyward is an American conductor and cellist, born in 1992 in Charleston, South Carolina. He was not exposed to classical music at home. He first learned the cello and played chamber music. In 2009 he conducted for the first time, in the youth orchestra of the Mozart in the South Festival in Charleston. He studied conducting at the Boston Conservatory under Andrew Altenbach, worked there on operas by Puccini, Mozart and Britten, and completed his studies in 2016 at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Sian Edwards.

Music and breakthrough

In 2015 he won the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors. In 2016 he became assistant conductor of The Hallé and led the Hallé Youth Orchestra. In August 2021 he conducted at the Proms for the first time. From 2021 he was chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, until the end of the 2023 to 2024 season. In 2022 it was announced that he would become the new music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, from the 2023 to 2024 season. He is the first conductor of colour in that position with the orchestra. His contract was extended in 2025 through the 2030 to 2031 season.

Influence

In 2023 he also became music director of the Lincoln Center Festival Orchestra, the orchestra that used to belong to the Mostly Mozart Festival. In 2025 he added the title of artistic director there. In October 2023 Time put him on its list of Next Generation Leaders. His album A New Dawn was released in 2022. He is thus one of the young conductors renewing orchestral life in the United States.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to A New Dawn from 2022 and notice how the orchestra plays under his direction, with precise ensemble playing and great attention to the colours of the different instrumental groups.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists