Wynton Marsalis to Deliver Northwestern Commencement Address

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Wynton Marsalis, one of the most honored musicians of our time, will speak at Northwestern University's 151st commencement June 19 and receive an honorary doctor of arts degree.

He also will address graduates at the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music convocation June 20.

Marsalis has achieved international success as a musician and bandleader, composer, educator, author and arts advocate. He is the co-founder and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz.

Founded in 1987, Jazz at Lincoln Center operates from its home in New York City, the Frederick P. Rose Hall -- the world's first multi-venue performing arts facility designed specifically for the sound of jazz. Each season, the organization produces thousands of performances and educational events for people of all ages in New York and around the world.

Marsalis' oratorio "Blood on the Fields," featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for music, the first ever awarded to a jazz musician. Winner of nine Grammy Awards, Marsalis is the only artist to win Grammys for both jazz and classical recordings. Marsalis' other honors include France's Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the American Arts Council's Arts Education Award and the National Medal of Arts. He also has received 29 honorary degrees and was appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace.