Wynton Marsalis to Step Down from Jazz at Lincoln Center After Four Decades
Wynton Marsalis, the trumpeter who helped build Jazz at Lincoln Center into a leading institution for the music, is beginning a phased transition away from day-to-day leadership after nearly 40 years. The announcement sets a clear timeline for a handoff while preserving Marsalis’ ongoing involvement in the organization he co-founded.
Phased transition and timeline
The organization has laid out a multi-stage plan for Marsalis’ departure from executive duties. He will remain artistic director through the 2026–27 season. Beginning in July 2027, he will shift into an advisory role on staff through the conclusion of his contract in June 2028. After that, Marsalis will continue to serve on the board as founder in perpetuity.
Those arrangements are intended to ensure continuity for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the institution’s programming while opening a path for new leadership to take the organization forward. Marsalis has said the aim all along was to build an enduring jazz institution that entertains and educates across generations, and he framed the transition as a necessary step so fresh leadership can take the organization to "even higher ground. "
Legacy, education and influence
Marsalis’ imprint on the institution is vast. Since the organization’s founding in 1987, he has led the resident orchestra on thousands of concerts, helped develop a slate of educational initiatives and elevated jazz’s profile in performance halls and classrooms nationwide. Signature programs that grew under his watch include school outreach initiatives, a high-school jazz band competition and awards programs that honor jazz legends and emerging talent.
The organization’s work in education and advocacy—bringing jazz into elementary schools, supporting high-school and collegiate ensembles, and staging large-scale festivals—has become integral to its mission. Under Marsalis’ leadership the orchestra and its collaborators have won major honors, and the group’s recordings and cross-genre projects have broadened the audience for jazz while sparking occasional debate about musical direction.
Recent recordings and the road ahead
The announcement comes amid continued artistic vitality across the scene. Notable recordings from 2025 drew attention, and one late-year standout was drummer and composer Brandon Sanders’ album Lasting Impression. The record features vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, pianists Eric Scott Reed and Tyler Bullock, tenor saxophonist Stacy Dillard, vibraphonist Warren Wolf and bassists Eric Wheeler and Ameen Saleem. Produced by drummer Willie Jones III, the album blends interpretations of standards with original compositions and showcases Horn’s commanding presence on a cover of "Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do). "
As Marsalis transitions, the organization faces the twin tasks of honoring a deeply established legacy while encouraging innovation. With a structured timeline that keeps him involved in advisory and board roles, the institution aims to marshal institutional memory and artistic authority into a new chapter. For the broader jazz community, the change prompts reflection on stewardship, repertoire and how best to cultivate the next generation of performers, educators and audiences.
Marsalis’ move away from day-to-day leadership marks the end of an era and the start of a period of institutional renewal. Musicians, educators and administrators will be watching closely as the handoff unfolds through mid-2028 and as new leadership shapes the organization’s next phase.
