For Immediate Release — As part of its 2026–27 Season, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has announced Jonathan Leshnoff as Composer in Residence. The Symphony will commission several new works, and the 2026–27 season will feature multiple world premieres, including Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 6, conceived as an artistic reflection on the city of Baltimore, and his Violin Concerto No. 3 written for Gil Shaham.
“I am honored to work with the magnificent Baltimore Symohony under Music Director Jonathan Heyward. They interpret my music superbly, with energy and sensitivity. I am musically inspired just at the thought and I know that this collaboration will be remarkable,” said Jonathan Leshnoff.
Leshnoff’s works have been well received by Baltimore audiences, with the Baltimore Sun describing his music as “remarkably assured, cohesively constructed and radiantly lyrical” after the performances of his Violin Concerto.
Throughout the residency, Leshnoff will be engaged with students from OrchKids, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and the Peabody Institute, extending the impact of his residency this season and for years to come.
This April, conductor Jonathon Heyward will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Jonathan Leshnoff’s work, Starburst, in a program featuring Sheku Kanneh-Mason in Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. The concerts will take place April24–26, 2026. Starburst is Leshnoff’s most often performed work, with over 30 orchestras performing the work in the past decade. It was commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony in 2010 under the direction of Marin Alsop.
Jonathan Leshnoff
Distinguished by The New York Times as “a leader of contemporary American lyricism,” GRAMMY-nominated composer Jonathan Leshnoff is renowned for his music’s striking harmonies, structural complexity, and powerful themes. The Baltimore-based composer has been ranked among the most performed living composers in recent seasons with performances by over 100 orchestras. He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, and Pittsburgh, among others. Leshnoff’s compositions have also been premiered by classical music’s most celebrated soloists, including Gil Shaham, Johannes Moser, Manuel Barrueco, Noah Bendix-Balgley and Joyce Yang.
In 26-27, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Leshnoff join forces as Leshnoff becomes its composer-in-residence, with the BSO commissioning several new works including his Violin Concerto No. 3 for Gil Shaham. Leshnoff’s residency includes mentorship to young composers, community engagement in addition to his work with Maestro Jonathon Heyward and the BSO. Leshnoff will also have three new symphonies premiered and recorded this season: his Symphony No. 5 for the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta, his Symphony No. 6 for the Baltimore Symphony and Jonathon Heyward and his Symphony No. 7 for the Santa Rosa Symphony and Francesco Leece-Chong.
Highlights in recent seasons include the premiere and recording of Sacrifice of Isaac, an hour-long oratorio on the Biblical account of the binding of Isaac, commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony and recorded by the Nashville Symphony and Rhapsody on America, commissioned by Orchestra Lumos, the Pasadena, San Jose and Valdosta Orchestras for pianist Joyce Yang. In 2026, Demarre McGill premiered Leshnoff’s Flute Concerto No. 2 with the Fairfax Symphony, which was recorded for commercial release.
The Baltimore Symphony
For over a century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has been recognized as one of America’s leading orchestras and one of Maryland’s most significant cultural institutions. The orchestra is internationally renowned and locally admired for its innovation, performances, recordings, and educational outreach initiatives, including OrchKids.
The BSO performs annually for more than 350,000 people throughout the State of Maryland. Since 1982, the BSO has performed at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, and since 2005, with the opening of The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, the BSO became the nation’s first orchestra performing its full season of classical and pops concerts in two metropolitan areas.
In July 2022, the BSO made history with the announcement that Jonathon Heyward would succeed Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder Marin Alsop as the Orchestra’s next Music Director. Maestro Heyward began his inaugural season in September 2023.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a proud member of the League of American Orchestras.
More information about the BSO can be found at BSOmusic.org.