Centrum is thrilled to welcome Wynton Marsalis as our featured artist for the 2025 Benefit Concert & Gala Dinner. Marsalis is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, and educator. A leading advocate of American culture, he is the first jazz artist to perform and compose across the full spectrum from of the artform–from its New Orleans roots to bebop and modern jazz. By creating and performing an expansive range of brilliant new music for quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras, tap dance to ballet, Wynton has expanded the vocabulary for jazz and created a vital body of work that places him among the world’s finest musicians and composers.

At this special event, a 13-piece jazz orchestra led by Marsalis and featuring classical pianist, Cecile Licad, will perform to a silent film, Louis. A modern reimagining of early silent film, the movie is set in 1907 New Orleans where 6-year-old Louis navigates the colorful intricacies of life in the city and acquires his first cornet. Following the film, Marsalis will be joined on stage by jazz composer and bassist, John Clayton, who will curate a conversation with Wynton about his eminent career, lifelong dedication to arts education, and the multi-generational legacies their two families share.

Our gala marks Marsalis’ first public appearance in the Pacific Northwest in 23 years without the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

Marsalis says, “the idea of accompanying a silent film telling a mythical tale of a young Louis Armstrong was appealing to me. Of course, calling it a silent film is a misnomer—there is plenty of music, and jazz is like a conversation between the players so there’ll be no shortage of dialogue.”

The Benefit Concert & Gala Dinner is Centrum’s most important annual source of scholarship funds. A limited number of tickets are available for the post-concert gala dinner, dessert auction, and fundraising paddle raise. Please contact us (information below) for more details. 

Together, we will celebrate another year of bringing artistic dreams to life. Your support makes it possible for the next generation of performing, literary, and visual artists to be a part of transformational creative experiences at Centrum.