Date
and Time: Single
Ticket Prices: Season
Ticket Packages: Location: Running
Time: Preconcert: Event
Overview: Program: Artist
Bio: Wynton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 18, 1961 to Ellis and Dolores Marsalis. He is the second of six sons, one of whom is autistic. At an early age Wynton exhibited seriousness about study, an aptitude for music and a desire to contribute to American culture. At age 14 he was invited to perform with the New Orleans Philharmonic. At age 17 Wynton became the youngest musician ever to be admitted to Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center. Wynton’s belief in the virtue of hard work fostered his rapid development and in 1980 he was rewarded with the opportunity to join the Jazz Messengers to study under master drummer and bandleader, Art Blakey. It was in Art Blakey’s band that Wynton first observed the relationship between jazz and democracy. According to Wynton, Art Blakey would always say, “No America, no jazz!” In the years to follow Wynton was invited to perform with Sara Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sweets Edison, Clark Terry and countless other jazz legends. With this foundation Wynton assembled his own band and hit the road, performing over 120 concerts every year for ten consecutive years. His objective was to learn how to play, knowing that performance is the key to a jazz musician’s development. During these years Wynton’s strong belief in jazz and his vision for the music began to revitalize the art form. Through an exhaustive series of performances, lectures and music workshops Marsalis rekindled widespread interest in the art form that had been largely abandoned as a hallmark of American culture. He also garnered recognition for the older generation of jazz musicians and prompted the re-issuance of jazz catalogs by record companies worldwide. While developing his musicianship Wynton devoted equal time to composition. The dance community embraced his penmanship. He received commissions to create major compositions for Garth Fagan Dance, Peter Martins at the New York City Ballet, Twyla Tharp for the American Ballet Theatre, and for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Marsalis collaborated with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in 1995 to compose the string quartet, At the Octoroon Balls, and again in 1998 to create a response to Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale with his composition, A Fiddler’s Tale. At the dawn of the new millennium Wynton presented his most ambitious work to date, Wynton’s love of the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and others drove him to pursue a career in classical music as well. He recorded the Haydn, Hummel and Leopold Mozart trumpet concertos at the age of twenty. His debut recording received glorious reviews and won the Grammy Award for “Best Classical Soloist with an Orchestra.” Marsalis went on to record ten additional classical records, all to critical acclaim. Wynton performed with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and London’s Royal Philharmonic. Through his recordings, workshops and performances Wynton inspired many youngsters to pursue classical music as well. Famed classical trumpeter Maurice André praised Wynton as, “potentially the greatest trumpeter of all time.” In
1987 Wynton Marsalis started a jazz program at Lincoln Center by
presenting three concerts each August. Under Wynton’s leadership
the program developed an international agenda with up to 400 events
annually in 15 countries. The programming is rich and diverse and
includes performances, debates, film forums, dances, television
and radio broadcasts, and educational activities. In December of
1995 the Lincoln Center Board awarded the Jazz Department’s
significant success by voting it a full constituent, equal in stature
with the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and the
New York City Ballet - a historic moment for jazz as an art form
and for Lincoln Center as a cultural institution. In
the fall of 1995 Wynton launched two major broadcast events. In
October PBS premiered a series of educational television shows on
jazz and classical music. The series was written and hosted by Marsalis
and was enjoyed by millions of parents and children. Writers distinguished
Marsalis’ television series by comparing his work to that of
the late Leonard Bernstein in his celebrated Young People’s
Concerts of the ‘50s and ‘60s. That same month National
Public Radio began broadcasting the first of Marsalis’ 26-week
series entitled Making Music. These entertaining and insightful
radio shows were the first full exposition of jazz music in American
broadcast history. Wynton’s radio and television series were
awarded the most prestigious distinction in broadcast journalism,
the George Foster Peabody Award. Wynton
Marsalis has won nine of the coveted Grammy Awards, earned the distinction
of being the only artist ever to win Grammy Awards for both jazz
and classical records (an accomplishment he astonishingly repeated
in consecutive years), and he is the only artist ever to have won
Grammy Awards in five consecutive years. Wynton received a citation
from the United States House of Representatives for his outstanding
contributions to the Arts. In the spring of 2001 United Nations
Secretary General, Kofi Annan proclaimed Wynton Marsalis an international
ambassador of goodwill by appointing him a UN Messenger of Peace.
In 1997 Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz musician ever to win
the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his epic oratorio Blood on the
Fields. The
most extraordinary dimension of Wynton Marsalis, however, is not
his accomplishments but his character. Wynton Marsalis has selflessly
donated his time and talent to non-profit organizations throughout
the country to help raise money to meet the many needs within our
society. From My Sister’s Place (a shelter for battered women)
to Graham Windham (a shelter for homeless children), the Children’s
Defense Fund, Amnesty International, the Sloan Kettering Cancer
Institute, Food For All Seasons (a food bank for the elderly and
disadvantaged), Very Special Arts (an organization that provides
experiences in dance, drama, literature, and music for individuals
with physical and mental disabilities) to the Newark Boys Chorus
School (a full-time academic music school for disadvantaged youths)
and many more -- Wynton responded enthusiastically to the call for
service. Links: Audio: |
