Composer Wynton Marsalis Wins Japan's Praemium Imperiale Award

Marsalis will receive a cash prize of 15 million Yen (approximately $102,000 USD) as part of the award

The Praemium Imperiale Awards, which were inaugurated in 1988, are given by the imperial family of Japan and celebrate achievements in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theater, and film.

Trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Wynton Marsalis has been honored as the recipient in the Music category and will receive a cash prize of 15 million Yen (approximately $102,000 USD).

One of America's most celebrated musicians, Wynton Marsalis is the only musician to have won a GRAMMY Award in both jazz and classical categories in the same year. He has an extensive discography across both styles and has released 127 recordings since his debut in 1982.

Marsalis is equally accomplished as a composer, and his most recent work is a violin concerto dedicated to Nicola Benedetti. The work received its premiere in 2015 with the London Symphony Orchestra and James Gaffigan.

Benedetti also performed alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra and the conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, the recording of which won a GRAMMY award.

Alongside his performing career, Marsalis is the current Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Director of Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, and President of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

"It is with great honor and respect that I accept the 2023 Praemium Imperiale for Music by the Government of Japan in conjunction with the Japan Art Association," Marsalis said.