Singer

Hear the brand-new lineup of NYO Jazz—Carnegie Hall’s evolving big band of top young jazz musicians from across the United States—as they perform under the leadership of trumpet great Sean Jones. The band has worked with some of today’s finest professional vocalists over the past couple years (Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jazzmeia Horn), and this season, it welcomes multi-genre singer and bandleader Alicia Olatuja to the mix. “You could be pretty confident you were hearing some stars of tomorrow,” wrote London’s The Times following a 2023 performance by NYO Jazz at Royal Albert Hall. As the ensemble's profile continues to grow, it becomes even more exciting to hear its latest accomplishments. From Duke Ellington to Thelonious Monk and Mary Lou Williams, to new arrangements and a Carnegie Hall-commissioned work by South African composer Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane, NYO Jazz showcases jazz as a living and limitless art form.

NYO Jazz in Durban, South Africa

The Playhouse Company

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NYO Jazz

Carnegie Hall

Critically acclaimed jazz/gospel singer Alicia Olatuja returns to Rockport this summer, this time joined by her husband, the award-winning bassist/composer Michael Olatuja for a new musical project simply titled Olatuja. The duo will cover vast musical ground including Afrobeat, jazz, soul, gospel and funk for an infectious mélange of soulful style.

Olatuja

Shalin Liu Performance Center

This new project finds Alicia and Michael Olatuja reuniting in music. OLATUJA blends Afro-Beat, Jazz, Funk, and Soul.

Praised by the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage,” Alicia Olatuja has been captivating audiences with her exquisite vocals and artistic versatility. She first came into the national spotlight while performing as the featured soloist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Shortly thereafter, she assembled her own jazz-based ensemble and recorded her first solo album.

Mendocino Music Festival

Fittingly, the New Jersey Symphony has tapped leading New Jersey composer and frequent Symphony collaborator Steven Mackey to celebrate the centennial with a new commission featuring original texts by former US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.

Mozart & Steven Mackey

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

State Theatre New Jersey

Richardson Auditorium

Our 2025/2026 season culminates with the ultimate symphony — Beethoven’s Ninth, featuring an all-star cast of soloists chosen by Music Director Xian Zhang and joined by the massed forces of the Seattle Symphony Chorale. Revolutionary, epic and at 200 years old, still as driven as Beethoven’s own sense of our shared destiny, he crowned this summit of his music with the stunning addition of voices in a song for humanity, hope and joy. Xian pairs it with Artist in Focus Steven Mackey’s RIOT, for chorus, vocalist and the composer himself on electric guitar. This inspiring music places race and resilience in the foreground with a setting of words by Tracy K. Smith — culminating in positive affirmation and a celebration of perseverance, commitment and community.

Mezzo-soprano

Alicia Olatuja

Events

Upcoming events

18 - 21 Jun, 2026

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9 · Seattle Symphony

Past events

Aug 1, 2024

NYO Jazz in Durban, South Africa · Carnegie Hall

Jul 20, 2024

NYO Jazz · Carnegie Hall

About

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