Celebrating Wynton Marsalis

By UMS

With Wynton Marsalis set to step down as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in June 2027, his upcoming Hill Auditorium appearances next Spring will mark his 30th and 31st — and final — performances at UMS in his role with the Orchestra.

Marsalis first appeared at UMS in January 1996 with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra Octet as part of the ensemble’s Morton, Monk, Marsalis tour, which featured unique stylings of works by Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk alongside Marsalis’s own compositions.

Over the past three decades, the relationship between UMS, Marsalis, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has grown into a cherished artistic partnership. Their recurring appearances reflect both a longstanding history together and also a shared belief in music’s power to educate, inspire, and bring communities together. The Orchestra’s mission to “entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy” closely mirrors UMS’s commitment to connecting audiences with transformative and meaningful artistic experiences.

“Wynton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra offer one of the most welcoming gateways to jazz,” says Mark Jacobson, vice president of programming and production at UMS. “New listeners are drawn in by the accessibility of their repertoire, while longtime aficionados admire the ensemble’s exceptional musicianship. Their broad appeal makes them a favorite with audiences of all backgrounds.”

A defining aspect of Marsalis’s legacy has been his commitment to expanding the possibilities of the jazz orchestra. Many of his appearances with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra have reflected his belief that jazz deserves the same artistic scope afforded to Western classical music. Through evening-length symphonies and extended thematic programs, he has challenged the conventional boundaries of the big band tradition, moving beyond collections of individual tunes to create cohesive artistic statements. These ambitious works have showcased the ensemble’s extraordinary versatility and endurance while preserving the spontaneity and creativity at the heart of jazz.

Wynton’s Original Scores at UMS

Blood on the Fields — February 1997

Marsalis’s first appearance at UMS with the full Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featured his landmark, evening-length work Blood on the Fields. The jazz oratorio follows two enslaved people, Jesse and Leona, as they journey toward freedom. The work earned the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Music, making history as the first jazz composition to receive the award — an honor that had previously been reserved for classical music.

A Fiddler’s Tale — April 1998

The following year, UMS hosted the world premiere of A Fiddler’s Tale, Wynton’s reimagining of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale (L’Histoire du soldat). In Stravinsky’s original, a Russian soldier trades his fiddle to the Devil in exchange for wealth. Marsalis updates the story for the modern music industry, following Beatrice, a jazz violinist whose artistic ambitions are tested by the temptations of fame and commercial success, embodied in the work by record producer — and Devil figure — Bubba Z. Beals.

All Rise — October 2022

Although Marsalis has appeared at UMS almost every year following his debut, it was not until 2022 — during the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s first week-long residency in Ann Arbor — that he returned with another epic evening-length work. UMS presented All Rise (Symphony No. 1), an ambitious composition performed by more than 200 artists, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the University Symphony Orchestra, the University of Michigan Choirs, and the UMS Choral Union.

Bringing together musical traditions from around the world, All Rise reflects Marsalis’s belief that seemingly different styles of music share common roots and can unite to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Originally commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in 1999, the work gained added significance when it was performed and recorded in New York the days following the September 11 attacks, emerging as a powerful testament to resilience, community, and the unifying force of music.

The residency extended far beyond the concert hall, engaging students of all ages and communities across Ann Arbor. Activities included a Penny Stamps lecture exploring the relationship between art and athletics, a performance at the Milan Federal Correctional Institution in collaboration with the Prison Creative Arts Project and SMTD students, and a memorable collaboration with the Michigan Marching Band for its “Night in New Orleans” halftime show at Michigan Stadium in front of 116,000 fans!

The Jungle — February 2026

Earlier this year, Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra reunited with the University Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kenneth Kiesler to perform The Jungle (Symphony No. 4), a sweeping musical portrait of New York City. Blending jazz, blues, improvisation, and orchestral traditions, the work explores the many cultures, histories, and tensions that shape the city’s identity.

Wynton Marsalis looks to conductor Ken Kiesler after their performance of The Jungle.

The Jungle moves through the evolution of the city starting with Indigenous history, the Jazz Age, European immigration, the rise of Latin American culture, and the frenetic energy of the business world. Along the way, Marsalis examines the contrasts that define urban life, illuminating a city where wealth and poverty, aspiration and struggle, grit and glamour exist together.

This second week-long residency, which was part of a UMS thread celebrating American Icons at the 250th anniversary of our country’s birth, also provided opportunities for public engagement beyond the performance itself. Marsalis joined Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes for a discussion marking America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, exploring how music and the arts shape civic life, influence national identity, and help communities envision the future.

The Ever Fonky Lowdown — 2027

In his final appearances at UMS in his current role as JLCO music director, Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra join forces with acclaimed actor Wendell Pierce for a presentation of The Ever Fonky Lowdown. Marsalis has described the work as “a game of buying in and selling out… [that examines] the integrity and results of the culture we create every day by serving the tension between our dream vision, television, mythology and the underlying facts that we have actually experienced.”

Marsalis and Pierce have known each other since their teenage years, their friendship forged in New Orleans at Benjamin Franklin High School and carried through their studies at The Juilliard School before building separate careers on major stages. Their reunion on the UMS stage marks a rare opportunity to see longtime collaborators come together again, with Pierce embodying the hustler, Mr. Game, and serving as narrator to guide audiences through the work’s shifting layers of story, satire, and commentary.

Don’t Miss the End of an Era

Wynton Marsalis’s final UMS appearances as music director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra mark the end of an era: a decades-long partnership that has become a cornerstone of our community’s performing arts landscape. Over the past 30 years of UMS events, Wynton and the JLCO have nurtured and shaped a love of jazz in Ann Arbor, not only through landmark performances, but also through deep engagement with students, schools, and the U-M community, expanding access to the art form and inspiring new generations of listeners and musicians.

Jazz Series

Subscribe to the 2026/27 Jazz Series to secure your seats for both of Marsalis’s final performances at Hill Auditorium, and experience an extraordinary lineup of jazz artists, including Samara Joy, Gregory Porter, and Julian Lage.