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How Wynton Marsalis is like Mozart - and why his concerto in Philly is for violin, not trumpet
Supposedly running 50 minutes at its 2015 London premiere, the concerto would seem to be one of the longest pieces of its kind. Now that it’s arriving for Philadelphia Orchestra concerts Thursday through Saturday at the Kimmel Center, the piece has a more Brahmsian length of 40 minutes. Rest assured, though, this concerto doesn’t sound like Brahms. Keep reading »
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Violin star Nicola Benedetti elated to do concerto by jazz great Wynton Marsalis
As one of the world’s most acclaimed young violinists, Nicola Benedetti has earned a stellar reputation for her ability to perform some of the most challenging works in classical music with flawless technical mastery and deep emotional conviction. Keep reading »
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Jonathan Kelly on the “Concerto in D” by Wynton Marsalis
Jonathan Kelly works as a music supervisor for Wynton Marsalis. In previous blog posts he explained how he got his enviable gig and shared some details of a collaboration between Wynton and the Garth Fagan Dance Company. Recently Jonathan and Wynton have been hard at work on a violin concerto, “Concerto in D,” in collaboration with Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti. This project has been captured in a documentary film titled “Nicky and Wynton: The Making of a Concerto” by producer/director Chris Eley. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis: trumpeting controversial ideas of classicism
In June 1986, Wynton Marsalis and Miles Davis were booked to play at the inaugural Vancouver international jazz festival, when the 24-year-old trumpeter took it upon himself to gatecrash Davis’s gig, trumpet in hand and ready to play. Keep reading »
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The Transatlantic Collaboration Behind Wynton Marsalis’ New Violin Concerto
Jazz great Wynton Marsalis, a virtuoso trumpet player and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, has written — wait for it — a violin concerto. As the daughter of the late virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg, I was intrigued and wanted to know more. So I spent an hour with Marsalis — and the violinist he wrote his concerto with and for. (More on that later.) Keep reading »
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The Arts Desk - Nicky and Wynton: The Making of a Concerto, BBC Four
Two personable musicians, who win on all fronts: at the pinnacle of their highly competitive and skilled professions, highly articulate, and perhaps unlikely partners in their art. In one corner, ladies and gentlemen, the composer, world-leading jazz trumpeter, teacher, head of Lincoln Center Jazz, the New Orleans-born Wynton Marsalis, 55. In the other, Nicola Benedetti, 29, the Scottish classical violinist, teacher and leading campaigning proselytiser for the importance of music in all spheres. Keep reading »
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Nicky and Wynton: the Making of a Concerto
“Chris Eley’s film is genuinely fascinating and gripping. Fascinating because it gives a rare insight into the hard grind of creativity, and gripping because of the strained dynamic between two people, both of whom are clearly on the side of the angels.” The Times Keep reading »
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NSO offers exuberant Marsalis concerto
Wynton Marsalis, the jazz artist, has made repeated forays into art-music composition — writing, that is, notated music for large ensembles, like “Blood on the Fields,” a jazz oratorio that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize. In the last year he’s had a couple of significant orchestral performances in the Washington area: Washington Performing Arts presented a revision of his Blues Symphony at the Kennedy Center, in 2015, and the National Symphony Orchestra offered its first performance of his new violin concerto, which the orchestra co-commissioned, on Thursday night. Keep reading »
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Nicola Benedetti Performs Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto in LA Phil Premiere
Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’s new “Concerto in D” for violin is a brainstorm from a genius brain, but it’s a storm that may yet need more taming. The piece was written for Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, who performed it with enthusiasm and stunning technique at her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut Thursday night at the Hollywood Bowl, with Cristian Macelaru conducting. Keep reading »
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The short and the long of the American conversation in Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto in D at the Bowl
Every election year is about competing visions of America and what it means to be an American. Political parties this summer are particularly divided between and among themselves. The Hollywood Bowl, however, has offered to help with the vision thing. Keep reading »