Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Assessing the inaugural season of the FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA OF LINCOLN CENTER under music director Jonathon Heyward

• By drediman
• August 11, 2024
• No Comments

Last night marked the conclusion of the inaugural season of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. Programmed as part of Lincoln Center’s expansive Summer for the City — which has exploded across the performing arts campus — the series of concerts by the newly formed ensemble at David Geffen Hall is in essence a rebranded and revitalized version of the popular Mostly Mozart Festival (that longstanding series concluded in bittersweet fashion last summer, coinciding with the departure of its beloved music director, Louis Langrée). By and large, the maiden summer run was a success.

Led by music director Jonathon Heyward — who is also the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra — the concerts were infused with a wonderful sense of inclusivity, as evidenced by noticeably diverse audiences, which was made possible, in part, by the generous “pay-what-you-wish” pricing structure (the has been true of most Summer for the City offerings). There was also a casualness to it all, almost as if in active retaliation to the perceived stuffiness of the art form (as if the icing on the cake, these Festival Orchestra performances were often followed by the opportunity to grab a laidback drink with Heyward in the lobby bar). Indeed, there’s clearly hunger and demand for these performance, suggesting that classical music is alive and well if packaged smartly, as it is here.

Over the three concerts I attended — two led by Heyward, one led by Kazeem Abdullah — the joy of making and sharing music was palpable. Although the first performance I was at found the the orchestra still gelling as an ensemble (that concert concluded with a tentative rendition of Stravinsky’s colorful Pulcinella), the players eventually found their footing in later outings with more performances under their belt (culminating in convincing performances of Mendelssohn, Bach, and Schumann). Compared to the now defunct Mostly Mozart, we’re already seeing more eclectic programming with the inclusion of works by composers such as Louis W. Ballard, Caroline Shaw, and Hannah Kendall.

Suffice to say, I look forward to seeing how both Heyward and his newly-minted orchestra grow and evolve over the coming summers.

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FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA OF LINCOLN CENTER
Classical Music
David Geffen Hall
Each program lasts approximately 2 hours (with one intermission)
Closed