.webp)
Rising star of the cello Jonathan Swensen is the Joint 1st Prize Winner of the Naumburg International Cello Competition 2024, recipient of the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant and was recently featured as both Musical America’s ‘New Artist of the Month’ and ‘One to Watch’ in Gramophone Magazine. Jonathan first fell in love with the cello upon hearing the Elgar Concerto at the age of six, and ultimately made his concerto debut performing that very piece with Portugal’s Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música.
Jonathan wins joint 1st prize in the prestigious Naumburg International Cellocompetition
Rising star of the cello, Jonathan Swensen, will take center stage with Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor, a work as enigmatic as it is expressive. Unlike traditional concertos, Schumann seamlessly weaves its three movements into a continuous flow, creating a dreamlike narrative. The opening unfolds with a transcendent, almost improvisatory quality, leading into a second movement of profound lyricism.
Schubert’s final completed symphony, the monumental Symphony No. 9 in C Major, aptly nicknamed “The Great,” stands as a testament to his admiration for Beethoven. Unusually expansive for its time, this symphony unfolds over an hour, brimming with rhythmic vitality and sweeping melodic lines. Midway through, Schubert pays homage to his predecessor, subtly echoing themes from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.