Wynton Marsalis is the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, Mr. Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12 and soon began playing in local bands of diverse genres. He entered The Juilliard School in 1979 when he was 17 years old, joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers that same year. Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has since recorded more than 30 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine Grammy Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz Grammys in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. In 1997, Mr. Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music, for his oratorio Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 1999, he released eight new recordings in his unprecedented “Swinging into the 21st” series, and premiered several new compositions, including the ballet Them Twos, for a June 1999 collaboration with the New York City Ballet. That same year he premiered the monumental work All Rise, commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic along with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) and the Morgan State University Choir. Mr. Marsalis signed to Blue Note Records in 2003, and his debut CD, a quartet recording entitled “The Magic Hour”, was released March 9, 2004. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of universities and colleges throughout the U.S. He conducts educational programs for students of all ages and hosts the popular Jazz for Young PeopleSM concerts produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Mr. Marsalis has also been featured in the video series Marsalis on Music and the radio series Making the Music. He has also written two books: Sweet Swing Blues on the Road in collaboration with photographer Frank Stewart, and recently released Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life with Carl Vigeland. On March 20, 2001, Mr. Marsalis was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He helped lead the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new home – Frederick P. Rose Hall – the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz.
Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing year-round performance, education, and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, a jazz appreciation curriculum for children, advanced training through the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, music publishing, children’s concerts, lectures, adult education courses, film programs, and student and educator workshops. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, President & CEO Hughlyn F. Fierce, Executive Director Derek E. Gordon, Chairman of the Board Lisa Schiff and Jazz at Lincoln Center Board and staff, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce hundreds of events during its 2004-05 season. This is the inaugural season in JALC’s new home – Frederick P. Rose Hall – the first-ever performance, education and broadcast facility devoted to jazz.
Bank of America is the proud presenting sponsor of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Season sponsors for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s inaugural season in Frederick P. Rose Hall are: Altria Group, Cadillac, The Coca-Cola Company, Samsung Electronics America Inc. and Time Warner Inc.
For more information please visit http://www.jalc.org
Press Release Source: Jazz at Lincoln Center
Dateline: October 2004
