Lincoln Center Festival Orchestra Extends Contract Through 2029

News Brief: From the League of American Orchestras

In Monday’s (1/13/25) MusicalAmerica.com, Susan Elliott writes, “Jonathon Heyward, music director of the Baltimore Symphony, will continue his summer job at the helm of Lincoln Center’s Festival Orchestra, the reincarnation of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, which played its final concerts in the summer of 2023. Heyward’s Lincoln Center job, which began in earnest last summer, will expand to music director and artistic director of the orchestra; he has signed a contract through 2029. The Festival Orchestra comes to life during the months of Linc Inc.’s ‘Summer for the City’ extravaganza … Linc Inc. estimates 14 concerts between July 19 to August 9 [including] ‘pieces by Beethoven, Mozart, Clara Schumann, and more performed alongside contemporary works by Michael Abels, Osvaldo Golijov, and Anna Clyne.’ There will be a new work by James Lee III, composer-in-residence with the Baltimore Symphony, and a performance of Schumann’s Fourth Symphony ‘through the lens of mental health.’ Future Festival Orchestra seasons will include an exploration of the Da Ponte operas, in collaboration with the Met’s Young Artist Development Program, and commissions by Billy Childs for a double concerto by McGill brothers Anthony (clarinet) and Demarre (flute), plus a cello concerto by Jessie Montgomery for Abel Selaocoe.”