Wynton Marsalis

Born in New Orleans, the second of Dolores and Ellis Marsalis' six sons, Wynton Marsalis began studying trumpet seriously at age 12. During high school he performed in local marching bands, jazz bands, funk bands and classical orchestras. At age 18 he moved to New York to attend the prestigious Julliard School and in the same summer became a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. That same year he was also signed to Columbia Records. Since his self-titled debut was released in 1982, Marsalis has recorded over 30 jazz and classical albums for Columbia and Sony Classical and has made guest appearances on countless other recordings. He has taken his jazz groups to thirty countries on six continents, performing more than 120 concerts per year for each of the past fifteen years. Wynton Marsalis currently serves as Artistic Director for the internationally recognized Jazz at Lincoln Center program, which he co-founded in 1987. Under Wynton's leadership, the Jazz Department earned the distinction of being named Lincoln Center's first new constituent since 1969. Several commissioned works for the program are among his most recent successes as a composer. Blood On The Fields, his epic oratorio on slavery, won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for music. Marsalis is the first jazz composer ever to earn a Pulitzer, a distinction for five decades that had been awarded exclusively to classical composers.