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The challenge Nicola Benedetti threw down to get Wynton Marsalis to write a ‘wild’ violin concerto
Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti was 17 when she met American jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. A rising classical star, she was on her own in New York for the first time for a performance at Lincoln Center. Keep reading »
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Benedetti, CSO give Marsalis premiere impassioned advocacy at Ravinia
It’s a sign of the times that even at a summer escape destination like the Ravinia Festival audience members now get wanded by security as they enter the park. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis’ “Concerto in D” revels in Americana
Wynton Marsalis long ago established his fluency in multiple musical languages, jazz and classical chief among them. But blues, gospel, spirituals, tango, African chant and other idioms also course through Marsalis’ large works, such as the symphonic-choral “All Rise,” the sanctified “In This House, On This Morning” and the vocal-orchestral epic “Blood on the Fields” (the first jazz composition to win a Pulitzer Prize, in 1997). Keep reading »
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Marsalis Muses On His First Concerto (For, Yes, Violin)
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — When jazz musicians venture into the world of classical music, such undertakings often get tagged — sometimes pejoratively — as “crossover” projects. But for renowned trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, the managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, working in the classical realm does not mean crossing over to some foreign stylistic territory but rather returning to familiar musical ground, as should be evident when his Concerto in D (for Violin and Orchestra) receives its American premiere July 12 at the Ravinia Festival by violinist Nicola Benedetti, guest conductor Cristian Măcelaru, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Keep reading »
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Q&A Live on Facebook with Wynton Marsalis, Nicola Benedetti and Cristian Macelaru
Wynton Marsalis, Nicola Benedetti and Cristian Macelaru host a Facebook Live session from backstage at the Ravinia Festival on July 11th. Catch them while they prepare for the U.S. premiere of the Marsalis Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Keep reading »
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American premiere of the first violin concerto by Wynton Marsalis
The 2016 CSO residency opens with the American premiere of the first violin concerto by jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, co-commissioned by Ravinia Festival for violinist Nicola Benedetti, who will mark her third Ravinia appearance. Keep reading »
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Wynton Marsalis, violin virtuosa talk about their U.S. premiere work at Ravinia
So what is America’s most prominent and powerful jazzman doing writing a classical violin concerto? In fact, the Violin Concerto that Wynton Marsalis composed for Scottish violin virtuosa Nicola Benedetti, which will receive its American premiere with her as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on next Tuesday night at Ravinia, is the latest in a series of works that the multi-talented trumpeter, composer, educator and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center has written for classical symphony orchestra. Keep reading »
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Marsalis Concerto in D, Barbican, London — ‘Vivid, restless’
Contrary to some preconceptions, classical music has always opened its arms to outside influences. In the US, jazz and classical have enjoyed a particularly fruitful courtship. If there ever were boundaries that mattered, they disappeared long ago. Gershwin, Copland and Bernstein have all been there, so Wynton Marsalis is in good company. Keep reading »
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LSO/Gaffigan review – Nicola Benedetti does her best with unrestrained Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis is a very busy musician. On the night Nicola Benedetti was premiering his violin concerto in London, Marsalis was in Princeton, on tour with his Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra. So one could understand if he feared he might not get the time to write another violin concerto. Perhaps that’s why he seemed to be throwing everything he had at this one. Keep reading »
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Bold venture is more glorified jam session than fully-achieved work
Wynton Marsalis has made several forays across the jazz-classical divide, but his Concerto in D, which was written for – and, more importantly, with - the violinist Nicola Benedetti, marks a bold new departure. Keep reading »