Join Arizona Arts Live and the Tucson Jazz Festival as we welcome multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen to the Old Pueblo. This is an explosive experience coming to the Rialto Theatre you’re not going to want to miss. Emmet Cohen is the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis. He was a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. Cohen has appeared at major international jazz festivals and at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center, in addition to headlining at the Village Vanguard and other major New York jazz clubs. For many years he was Hammond B-3 Organist-in-Residence at Harlem’s SMOKE jazz club. During the lockdown, he created “Live From Emmet’s Place,” a weekly livestream that received millions of internet views worldwide. Cohen is a Mack Avenue artist. A Suzuki piano student at age three, Cohen holds jazz piano degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) and the University of Miami (B.M.). Emmet Cohen has performed, recorded, or collaborated with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart, Herlin Riley, Lea DeLaria, and Bill T. Jones. Emmet's Website Emmet's Facebook

MacArthur Fellow and three-time GRAMMY winner Cécile McLorin Salvant has a gift for storytelling and curating layered, evocative programs that draw connections between vaudeville, blues, international folk traditions, theater, jazz, and classical music, delivering it all with her powerfully swinging voice. Join Arizona Arts Live and the Tucson Jazz Festival as we welcome Cécile McLorin Salvant center stage in Centennial Hall. The Late Jessye Norman described Cécile McLorin Salvant as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings.” She has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and baroque music. Salvant is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. Since winning the Thelonius Monk competition in 2010, Salvant has received GRAMMY Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album for three consecutive albums, “The Window,” “Dreams and Daggers,” and “For One To Love,” and was nominated for the award in 2014 for her album “WomanChild.” In 2020 she received the MacArthur Fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. “Ghost Song,” Salvant’s debut for Nonesuch Records, was released in March 2022 to critical acclaim and has gone on to receive two GRAMMY Nominations. Artist's Site Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

“Their music will keep classical music alive for the next generation”– NPR Two-time Grammy-nominated Black Violin Experience returns to Tucson in a musical fusion of classical sounds with exhilarating hip-hop beats. Join Arizona Arts Live and the Rialto Theatre for a performance that boldly merges centuries of music with a message of hope and possibility. The Black Violin Experience comprises classically trained violist and violinists Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus who combine their classical training and hip-hop influences to create a distinctive multi-genre sound often described as a “classical boom.” The band released their major label debut Stereotypes (featuring Black Thought of The Roots and MC Pharoahe Monch) on Universal Music, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart and #4 on the Billboard R&B Chart. NPR took note declaring their music “will keep classical music alive for the next generation.” On stage, Kev Marcus gives an electrifying violin performance alongside Wil Baptiste’s magnetizing viola and vocal performance. Joining them are Nat Stokes on drums, DJ SPS on the turntable, and Liston Gregory on keys. Together they are reconceptualizing what a violin concert looks and sounds like, building bridges to a place where Mozart, Marvin Gaye, and Kendrick Lamar harmoniously coexist. The Black Violin Experience invites you to think outside of the box. Link Facebook Instagram Twitter Spotify