History

For decades, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) has been at the forefront of jazz education and promoting jazz music around the world. Established in the mid-1980s, the jazz orchestra was initially meant to broaden Lincoln Center’s audience, and provide programming for the summer months. Four summers of successful concerts (beginning in 1987) culminated in Jazz at Lincoln Center becoming an official department of Lincoln Center in 1991. At first, the orchestra played mainly in New York City, soon expanding into the rest of the United States and eventually touring internationally. Since then, JLCO has recorded over forty albums and played countless concerts to audiences around the world. Though much of their programming focuses on preserving music from the swing era to the harp bop era, JLCO also features original works. Beyond their performing work, Jazz at Lincoln Center and JLCO do a lot of educational outreach. Their education programs serve over 148,000 students, and JALC has run the Essentially Ellington competition since 1995.