At Baltimore Symphony, Lincoln Center, and Elsewhere, Conductor Jonathon Heyward Aims to Reach New Audiences

In Tuesday’s (7/16) New York Times, Javier C. Hernández writes, “The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra had just finished performing Respighi’s ‘Pines of Rome’ on a recent evening when the ensemble’s new music director, Jonathon Heyward, returned to the stage at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall … for an intimate, late-night conversation with the audience about music and life. Wearing Converse sneakers and sipping from a glass of Scotch, Heyward, 31, discussed Respighi, his first season as music director and becoming a father…. It was the kind of casual gathering that Heyward, who takes the helm of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center this month, has championed as he works to expand the audience for classical music. ‘This art form is for everyone,’ he said in an interview later. ‘We want everyone to feel welcome here.’ Heyward … is part of a generation of young maestros, including Teddy Abrams in Kentucky and Anthony Parnther in California, who are trying to shed classical music’s elitist image. These rising stars are also hoping to help their orchestras get beyond the disruption of the pandemic by embracing a diverse array of artists and genres, and bringing more music into the community.”