The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Joins the NSO for a Historic Night
Some concerts are events, and some events are history. On Saturday, September 12 at 8 PM, the Filene Center at Wolf Trap hosts one of the latter, as legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra join forces with the National Symphony Orchestra for the premiere of Marsalis' brand-new Symphony No. 5, "Liberty" — a sweeping work created especially for America250, the nation's 250th anniversary celebration.
Co-commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, "Liberty" reflects on the past, present, and future of the American experiment, fusing jazz, blues, and symphonic sound into a single rousing statement about who we are and who we might yet become. It is quintessential Marsalis: music that honors tradition while refusing to be confined by it, performed by two of the finest ensembles in the world sharing one stage under the open Virginia sky. The evening opens with selections from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra itself, the fifteen-piece big band widely regarded as the premier large jazz ensemble on the planet, before the NSO joins for the symphony that gives the night its purpose.
The occasion carries extra weight because this performance falls during Marsalis' final season as Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and Music Director of the JLCO. Marsalis founded Jazz at Lincoln Center as a summer concert series in 1987 and guided it as it became a full constituent of Lincoln Center in 1996, building it into the world's foremost institution for the preservation, performance, and advancement of jazz. After four decades at the helm, he has announced plans to step down in 2027, which makes every stop on this season's calendar a farewell of sorts — and this one, with a world-premiere symphony written for the country's semiquincentennial, may be the most meaningful of them all.
Few American artists have a résumé to match. Marsalis is a nine-time Grammy winner and the first person ever to win Grammy Awards in both jazz and classical categories in the same year, a feat he accomplished in 1983 and then repeated in 1984. He became the first jazz musician awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his oratorio "Blood on the Fields," and he has been named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, the highest honor the nation bestows on a jazz artist. Born into New Orleans jazz royalty as the son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, he has spent his career as the music's most eloquent ambassador, composer, and champion.
Wolf Trap holds a special place in that career. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra first played the Filene Center in 1992, and this September concert marks Marsalis' eighteenth appearance at the venue, a summer tradition for generations of Washington-area jazz lovers. That the world's only National Park for the Performing Arts, just a short drive from the nation's capital, should host the debut of a symphony called "Liberty" in the 250th year of American independence feels less like coincidence than destiny.
Audiences who arrive early can deepen the experience at a free pre-performance discussion at 7 PM on the Farmhouse Lawn, led by Davey S. Yarborough, co-founder and artistic director of The Washington Jazz Arts Institute. And as always at Wolf Trap, guests are welcome to pack a picnic — it remains the only venue in the DC area where you can bring your own food and drinks — and settle in for an evening where America's music meets America's milestone.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and the National Symphony Orchestra perform Saturday, September 12 at 8 PM at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia.