Wynton Marsalis

Trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis has been director of Juilliard Jazz since 2014. He is the managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Born in New Orleans in 1961, Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12, entered Juilliard at age 17, and then joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has since recorded more than 60 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 that feat in 1984. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education. He has received honorary doctorates from dozens of U.S. universities and colleges. He has written six books, including Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!, illustrated by Paul Rogers (Candlewick Press, 2012), and Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life with Geoffrey C. Ward (Random House, 2008).

In 1997, 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 2001, he was appointed Messenger of Peace by Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, and he has also been designated cultural ambassador to the United States of America by the U.S. State Department through its CultureConnect program. Marsalis was instrumental in the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief concert, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. The event raised more than $3 million for the Higher Ground Relief Fund to benefit the musicians, music industry-related enterprises, and other individuals and entities from the areas in Greater New Orleans who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina.