The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis returns to Columbus on October 6, marking the ensemble’s first appearance at the Wexner Center for the Arts in more than 20 years. The evening performance opens the Wex’s 2026–27 jazz series and arrives during what is being described as Marsalis’s final season as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and music director of the orchestra. Before the headline show, the group will perform a daytime “Jazz for Young People” concert expected to draw more than 2,000 students from across Ohio.
The return has been billed by the Wexner Center as the orchestra’s first stop at the Wex in over 20 years, according to wexarts.org. The venue describes the evening as a chance to hear the ensemble deliver, in its own words, an unforgettable night of swing, blues, and masterful musicianship. Marsalis is listed as the orchestra’s music director and trumpet player, fronting a group that has served as Jazz at Lincoln Center’s resident orchestra since 1988 and comprises 15 of what the center calls the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players working today.
Wexner Center organizers describe the program as one that bridges classic repertoire with bold contemporary expression, a balance that has defined the orchestra’s identity for decades. The show lands at a particularly weighted moment: the Wex says the performance comes during Marsalis’s final season steering the artistic direction of Jazz at Lincoln Center, adding a sense of occasion to a night already notable for being the orchestra’s first local appearance in two decades.
A Daytime Concert Built for Ohio Students
Hours before the main event, the orchestra will perform a Jazz for Young People concert at Mershon Auditorium, staged in partnership with the Wexner Center and Columbus Jazz. The nonprofit behind the collaboration frames the October 6 date as a long-awaited payoff for its educational mission, writing that it is thrilled to fulfill that mission in a historic way, per columbusjazz.org. Organizers expect the daytime show to give more than 2,000 students across the state a rare opportunity to see Marsalis and the full orchestra perform live.
That same evening, the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra will open for the touring ensemble at Mershon Auditorium, sharing a stage with the group many of its members have studied for years. The youth orchestra is made up of 18 students from across central Ohio, according to the Columbus Jazz account, and functions as the flagship ensemble within the Columbus Youth Jazz program. That program, run by the Jazz Arts Group, serves students in grades seven through 12 with weekly rehearsals, guest artist workshops, free Columbus Jazz Orchestra tickets, and recording sessions, as detailed by jazzartsgroup.org. Instrumentalists move through one of four ensembles in the program, with the youth jazz orchestra serving as its most nationally recognized group.
Local Roots in a National Legacy
This is not the first time Columbus has crossed paths with Marsalis and his orchestra. Columbus Jazz previously hosted the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Marsalis in a livestreamed concert from the Lincoln Theatre in 2021, the nonprofit notes, a pandemic-era connection that organizers now point to as a precursor to this fuller, in-person return. The Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra has its own history with the national organization as well, having celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 with a double bill alongside the JALC Youth Orchestra at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City.
According to Columbus television station myfox28columbus.com, Wynton Marsalis is a jazz legend whose visit also marks the start of the Wexner Center’s performing arts season. The station’s Good Day Columbus segment featured Kathleen Felder, interim head of music programming at the Wexner Center for the Arts, alongside Columbus Youth Orchestra musicians Josiah Tyner and Wyatt Kissinger, who discussed the upcoming show. The appearance underscored how closely the Wex’s season-opening plans are tied to the youth musicians who will share the Mershon stage.
What Comes Next in the Jazz Series
The Marsalis performance kicks off a four-show season at the Wex, which the center describes as one season, four unforgettable performances. Later dates in the 2026–27 jazz series include the Columbus debut of SML as well as performances from Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martínez and from Cécile McLorin Salvant and her quartet, according to the Wexner Center’s series announcement.
Member presales for the season begin April 30, with tickets opening to the general public on May 12, per the Wex. For Columbus audiences and the young musicians getting a rare shared stage with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s touring ensemble, the October date closes out a two-decade gap and opens a season built around one of jazz’s most enduring names.
