Jonathon Heyward & Caen Thomason-Redus

Jonathon Heyward is forging a career as one of the most exciting conductors on the international scene. He currently serves as Music Director Designate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and will begin his five-year contract in the 2023-24 season. Jonathon’s selection was unanimous from the Baltimore Symphony Music Director Search Committee, comprised of BSO musicians, staff, and community members. In March 2022, Jonathon made his debut with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in three performances that included the first-ever performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15. Quickly re-engaged, he returned in April to lead a Benefit Concert for Ukraine at the Meyerhoff.

Currently in his second year as a Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, in summer 2021, Jonathon took part in an intense, two-week residency with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain which led to a highly acclaimed BBC Proms debut. According to the Guardian Jonathon was “not too exhausted, though, to lead – from memory – a fast and fearless performance of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, in which loud chords exploded, repeating like fireworks in the hall’s dome, and the quietest passages barely registered. It was exuberant, exhilarating stuff.”   In Colin’s Column Ateş Orga noted: “This Prom was about Jonathon Heyward, NYOGB and Beethoven. …Heyward’s a man of twenty-nine coolly heading for the stratosphere.”

Caen Thomason-Redus is a performer, teacher, recording artist and arts leader who is committed to bringing music to more people. You can hear him on his two most recent releases, Fierce Lyricism with Elena Abend and Subtropical with René Izquierdo, both of which were made possible by an MPower Artist Grant from the Sphinx Organization. His eclectic musical interests include works by living composers, early music, and improvisation. He performed in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for two years as their African-American Orchestral Fellow, has held playing positions with the Evansville Philharmonic, Central City Opera, Owensboro Symphony, and Missouri Symphony Orchestras, and teaching positions with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Evansville, Wayne State University, and others. He recorded several anthologies of flute repertoire, including The Flute Collection, and appears regularly for masterclasses and lectures. Caen earned performance degrees from Rice University and the University of Redlands, and did additional studies at the University of Michigan and the Mozarteum Universität Salzburg. Caen is married to hornist Kristi Crago and they enjoy spending lots of time with their three children.