John Lewis

Wynton Marsalis discusses the Edinburgh International Festival’s staging of his expansive symphony All Rise, which combines a jazz orchestra, symphony orchestra and massed choirs. He describes the 12-movement work as an attempt to find common ground among American and international musical traditions and to express pluralism, rather than make a direct political argument. Marsalis reflects on collaborators including Kurt Masur, his marriage to violinist and festival director Nicola Benedetti, the humility he has learned through collaboration, and his decision to step back from executive leadership at Jazz at Lincoln Center while remaining artistically involved.