American Night with Jonathon Heyward

About the Event

American conductor Jonathon Heyward leads the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Dvořák's compelling Ninth Symphony “From the New World” and Gershwin's Piano Concerto. Soloist is the popular pianist and improviser Hayato Sumino, who makes his debut at The Concertgebouw.

Dvořák's American Symphony
Conducted by Jonathon Heyward, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra presents American Night. The American conductor is considered one of the most surprising young conductors on the international stage. He has been a guest conductor at The Concertgebouw several times, including as a guest conductor with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as with his own German orchestra, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. Now he returns with Dvořák's world‐famous Ninth Symphony, “From the New World. The Czech composer wrote it during his stay in the United States.

Swinging piano feast of Gershwin
On this American Night, the pioneering American composer George Gershwin is of course not to be missed. He wrote his jazzy Piano Concerto in 1925 at the request of Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra, and Gershwin himself played the premiere. The solo part tonight is in the hands of popular Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino. This Rising Star is creating a furor not only with the classical piano repertoire, but also as a composer, improviser and YouTube sensation.