Delfeayo Marsalis Appointed Artist-in-Residence At Hartt School

Acclaimed trombonist, producer and NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo Marsalis has been appointed the 2022-23 Artist-in-Residence for the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz Studies at the University of Hartford's Hartt School.

"Our jazz studies student body is excited and appreciative to welcome Delfeayo Marsalis as Artist-in-Residence for the 2022-23 academic year," says Javon Jackson, Director of the Jackie McLean Institute. "His gained experience as musician, producer, composer and educator will offer the students many opportunities for discourse through lectures, private studio lessons and masterclasses."

Jackie McLean was a man of high principles and uncompromising love for the American Art Form known as Jazz. As an icon of the idiom, McLean passed on this legacy and passion as founder of the Jazz program at the University of Hartford. The Jazz faculty further embodies that origin through a curriculum that provides essential knowledge and skills necessary for a career in music.

"I am honored and thrilled to be part of the distinguished Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz Studies," says Marsalis. "I look forward to engaging with the students for the academic year. We're going to keep it real, old school, and help these youngsters prepare to carry on Jackie McLean's mission and passion for the music we all love so much."

An acclaimed trombonist, composer and producer, Delfeayo Marsalis has also dedicated his prolific career to education. Marsalis has toured internationally with music legends such as Ray Charles, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Fats Domino, as well as leading his own groups. He has produced more than 120 recordings, earning one Grammy Award and several nominations.

In 2000 Marsalis formed the Uptown Music Theatre, a non-profit that empowers youth through musical theatre training. He has written sixteen musicals, composed more than 100 songs introducing kids to jazz, and reached over 6,000 students nationally with his Swinging with the Cool School workshops. In 2008, Marsalis formed the Uptown Jazz Orchestra (UJO), which focuses on maintaining important jazz traditions such as riff playing and New Orleans polyphony. UJO is stretching the boundaries of what is expected from big bands, playing with an extraordinary sense of joy and fun that could only come from New Orleans.

Marsalis holds a dual bachelor's degree in music performance and production from Berklee College of Music, a masters in jazz performance from the University of Louisville, and has also been conferred a doctorate from New England College.

The Hartt School is a performing arts conservatory for music, dance, and theatre with the philosophy that the best way to learn and perfect one's craft is by doing. Hartt presents more than 400 performances, recitals, lectures, and master classes each year. Faculty members are performers, scholars, and creative artists themselves at theatres and concert halls around the world. Through diverse coursework and close mentoring relationships with faculty, Hartt gives students the tools to make their passion their profession.