Visiting Presenters

Don’t miss this joyful New York tradition for the most important holiday in the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrate the Year of the Snake with music! The Sound of Spring returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center for its sixth year of celebratory Chinese orchestral music, featuring guest appearances by the melodic and virtuosic erhu soloist Yan Guowei, the exciting and passionate percussionist Zhang Jingli, and the great sheng master Wang Lei, all from the legendary faculty of the Central Conservatory of Music, China. The US-China Music Institute is also proud to present the pipa soloist Jinou Anastasia Dong, winner of the Bard Conservatory’s Concerto Competition, in her NYC debut. Special pre-concert event starts at 2 pm. Come early and bring the kids for a live Chinese instrument demonstration and try them on their own!

Six lives. 79 years wrongly incarcerated. One story of exoneration and hope.

“A masterpiece.” – CityBeat
“Seamless, hard-hitting and affecting. A powerful critique of the criminal justice system.” – The Wall Street Journal
“Deeply moving and profound.” – Cincinnati Business Courier
RUNNING TIME:
90 minutes, no intermission. Immediately following each performance, there will be a public conversation featuring selected exonerees, artists, and experts. Conversations are free to ticketholders for the respective date.

ABOUT THE SHOW:
This timely and riveting new 90-minute opera follows the Ohio Innocence Project’s efforts to overturn the convictions of six men, women, and teens who were wrongly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit:
­— Nancy Smith, a school bus driver convicted of molesting children at the height of the “nursery school hysteria” sweeping the nation. Imprisoned for 15 years.
— The “East Cleveland 3”, teenage boys convicted of murder, identified solely by their gender and race. Imprisoned for 19 years.
— Clarence Elkins, convicted of the murder and rape of his mother-in-law and his niece, based on vague testimony by a traumatized child. Imprisoned for six years. The actual perpetrator ultimately confessed.
— Rickey Jackson, convicted of murder and robbery based on the coerced testimony of a child who, after Jackson was imprisoned for 39 years and sent to Death Row, played a key role in his release.
Featuring an operatic score infused with jazz, gospel, funk, and hip-hop, and a libretto drawn substantially from the exonerees’ own words, this deeply human production asks “What makes a person strong enough to endure injustice? What makes a person free?”

CREATIVE TEAM:
Music by Scott Davenport Richards Libretto by David Cote Based on the book Blind Injustice by Mark Godsey and casework by the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law Director and Dramaturg — Robin Guarino Conductor — Ted Sperling

Did you know that the first complete opera by a Black American has been hidden in a single manuscript for over 130 years? Edmond Dédé, a fourth-generation free person of color born in 1827 New Orleans, had an incredibly successful career as a conductor and composer in Bordeaux, France, writing nearly 100 critically and popularly acclaimed works for the French stage. His magnum opus, however—a four act French grand opera on themes from Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves—had yet to receive a premiere at the time of his death, and languished, unrecognized, in private collections and libraries for over a century. Opera Lafayette, with Artistic Director Designate Patrick Quigley, and in partnership with New Orleans’ Givonna Joseph, Founder of OperaCréole, has painstakingly transcribed this monumental work and will present the long overdue world premiere of Dédé’s masterpiece, 138 years after its composition.

On March 6, 2025 the life and music of Lenny White — the iconic GRAMMY-winning drummer, who is among jazz music’s most prolific and celebrated artists, producers, composers and sidemen — will be fêted at a one-night-only celebration filled with music and memories at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. Presented by Tzedakah 4 All, the event will feature performances in multiple combinations – Return to Forever w/ Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and orchestra conducted by Maestro Steve Mecurio, Miles Davis Bitches Brew, Red Clay, Echoes of an Era, as well as exploring material from his illustrious five + decade career. Laurence Fishburne will serve as emcee with appearances from fellow artists Buster Williams, Omar Hakim, Patrice Rushen, Al Foster, Mike Clark, Billy Hart, and Billy Drummond. Additional SURPRISE special guests to attend as well.

Second Show Added! April 1st 2025 at 8PM.
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass will celebrate the legendary trumpet player's 90th birthday in New York City with a once-in-a-lifetime performance at the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater on Monday, March 31, 2025 at 8:00PM. For the first time in over 40 years, Alpert is reforming his iconic Tijuana Brass band (with an all-new lineup!) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the iconic album “Whipped Cream & Other Delights”. He’ll be performing hits like “The Lonely Bull,” “Spanish Flea,” “Taste of Honey” and "This Guy's In Love With You."
Herb Alpert’s extraordinary musicianship has earned him five #1 hits, nine GRAMMY® Awards, fifteen Gold albums, fourteen Platinum albums and he has sold over 72 million records worldwide. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass propelled his sound into the pop music limelight, at one point outselling The Beatles two to one. In 1966, they achieved the remarkable feat of simultaneously having four albums in the Billboard Top 10 and five in the Top 20.
Herb Alpert also has the distinction of being the only artist who has had a #1 instrumental (“Rise”) and a #1 vocal record (“This Guy’s In Love With You”). In 2016 the Herb Alpert Presents record label released 40 deluxe re-masters of the entire TJB catalogue plus all of Herb’s solo albums from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s. In all, Alpert has recorded 50 albums and produced records for many other artists, including Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, Stan Getz, Michel Colombier, Gato Barbieri and Alpert’s wife, GRAMMY winning vocalist Lani Hall, to name a few.