Nine-time Grammy winner Wynton Marsalis will bring his award-winning Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to UNC Wilmington's Kenan Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. The performance, presented by the UNCW Office of Cultural Arts, will feature new repertoire developed for the upcoming Jazz at Lincoln Center series, and a special guest appearance by internationally-acclaimed percussionist Joe Chambers, the Thomas S. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Jazz at UNCW.

Hailed as one of the greatest big bands of all time, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra features 15 of today's finest jazz soloists and ensemble players. Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis has garnered wide acclaim as one of the foremost jazz musicians of our time. An accomplished composer and musician, Marsalis has produced more than 30 jazz and classical recordings and won nine Grammy Awards. In 1997, he became the first jazz artist to receive the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music.

"Wynton Marsalis is without doubt one of the most dynamic personalities in the musical world today, an international ambassador for jazz whose performing, composing and recording credentials speak for themselves," said UNCW Director of Cultural Arts Norman Bemelmans. "We are so pleased to be able to bring him and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to UNCW and to share their incomparable music-making with our community."

Tickets are $75 (Reserved Section A); $55 (Reserved Section B); $15 for UNCW students with a valid ID (limit 1 per student).

Tickets will go on sale at the Kenan Auditorium Box Office Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008. For more information visit www.uncw.edu/arts or call the box office at 910.962.3500 or toll free at 800.732.3643.