Wynton Marsalis performs with the Harlem School of the Arts All Stars, during an event with first lady Jill Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to celebrate the 2023 Praemium Imperiale Laureates, a global arts prize awarded annually by the Japan Art Association for lifetime achievement in the arts, in the East Room of the White House, in September 2023. AP photo

CHAUTAUQUA – When Wynton Marsalis speaks about music, people listen.

As part of his week-long residency, and week nine theme Rising Together: Our Century of Creativity and Collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and the JLCO, at Chautauqua Institution, he will give the Monday lecture and lead a panel discussion on Friday.

He is scheduled to perform in the Amphitheater Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 8:15 p.m. each day.

Also the Public Broadcast Service, and the institution have announced the production of a new one-hour documentary film, Chautauqua at 150: Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise, to air on PBS in early 2025.

Produced by the award-winning production company Black Robin Media, the documentary will tell the institution’s story through the voices of its current patrons and partners, including those who have spoken and performed from Chautauqua’s iconic stages over the past several years, the institution said in a prepared statement.

The documentary is centered around a new production of All Rise, written by the award-winning trumpeter and composer. Originally premiered in 1999, the jazz symphony will be performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Marsalis as well as a symphonic orchestra and choir.

According to the institution’s Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer Deborah Sunya Moore, Marsalis has been a constant supporter and collaborator as both Chautauqua Institution and JLCO continue to explore how the institution and JLCO visions for the future can intertwine for good.

“This will be the third one-week residency that we have curated with Wynton Marsalis and it’s an honor to have him return for our 150th (anniversary). Almost two years ago, our team met with the JLCO team in their NYC (New York City) offices to discuss what the theme of this week might be. At that time, they shared with us that the work All Rise would be having its 25th anniversary while Chautauqua was having our 150th anniversary,” Moore said.

Moore added that All Rise speaks to themes and needs that Marsalis feels are just as needed today as when he wrote the piece. All Rise explores and celebrates the need for diversity and unity, community and connection, and resilience and hope.

“What better way to end the last week of the Institution’s sesquicentennial season? I was able to speak with Wynton early on about his hopes for this residency, and he shared that he hoped to have a video recording of the full work so that emotions and reactions could be captured,” Moore noted.

Moore also said that she is hoping that Marsalis’ residency will have broad and deep impact on area musicians, and that regional musicians should take part in the residency for a master class from one of the JLCO musicians, listen to a lecture by Marsalis, or take in one of the evening performances. She noted that JLCO musicians will offer 10 master class events.

“As America’s largest stage, we’re thrilled for PBS audiences to experience this unique and uplifting story about the power of the arts and its ability to bring us together,” Sylvia Bugg, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming, PBS said in a written statement. “Chautauqua is one of America’s premiere destinations for arts education and in presenting this film together, we hope to enrich millions of Americans with thought provoking dialogue and performances.”

Moore said the performance of All Rise will be a metaphor for both Chautauqua and JLCO’s missions, which both center on the transformative power of the arts. The performances of All Rise will include Chautauqua’s Music School Festival Orchestra, which is composed of 80 young musicians enrolled in the Chautauqua School of Music. Joining them will be the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and guest vocalists alongside the JLCO with Marsalis, creating an intergenerational performance of this important work.

Chautauqua continues to bring many voices and perspectives together at a time when we find people moving further apart, Moore said.

“Amplifying voices of thought leaders such as Wynton is why we exist to challenge each other’s thinking, inspire community curiosity, and convene the conversation with grace and conviction. That is how we will rise together,” Moore said.

All Rise demonstrates the many facets of human experience. It is an epic 12-part composition for big band, gospel choir, and symphony orchestra. The work examines the global commonalities in music across culture, time and circumstance: from New Orleans brass bands to clave and samba, to church music and Chinese parade bands, the Italian aria, and more. Movements I to IV concentrate on the themes of birth and self-discovery; the second four movements grapple with mistakes, pain, sacrifice and redemption. The last four movements are concerned with maturity and joy. In sum, the piece demonstrates the many facets of human experience, the institution said.

“I believe in the transformative power of music and the arts to not only move us in the moment, but to also move us to action,” Moore said. “I have faith that the human spirit is ceaselessly open to inspiration, allowing us to receive beauty and impart joy. I believe that artists such as Wynton are thought leaders, and that we can look to artists as people deeply in touch with the way that our souls might be moved to do more good over more days. I also believe that educators are artists, and that they possess the strength and resilience to help grow our county’s and our country’s youth to be engaged citizens that we are proud of.”

For information on the residency, master classes, and tickets, visit chq.org.