Jazz musician Branford Marsalis has been appointed as Wake Forest University’s 2025 Maya Angelou Artist-in-Residence. Known for his contributions to jazz, classical music, film, and Broadway, Marsalis will share his experience with the Wake Forest community.
The Maya Angelou Artist-in-Residence Award aims to bring renowned artists to the campus for interaction with students, faculty, staff, and the broader community. In its inaugural year in 2023, Debbie Allen was the first recipient. The residency is awarded biennially.
“Branford Marsalis embodies the versatility, depth and unwavering commitment to artistic integrity that define the spirit of the Maya Angelou Artist-in-Residence program,” said Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente. “His ability to transcend musical genres while championing creative excellence and community engagement perfectly aligns with Dr. Angelou’s legacy of using art as a powerful force for connection and understanding.”
Marsalis’s career spans four decades marked by innovation. A three-time Grammy winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, he has toured with Sting, collaborated with artists like the Grateful Dead and Bruce Hornsby, served as musical director on “The Tonight Show” starring Jay Leno, and hosted NPR’s “Jazz Set.”
In 1986, Marsalis formed the Branford Marsalis Quartet which has received six Grammy nominations and one win.
Beyond performance and composition, Marsalis is dedicated to education. He taught at North Carolina Central University for nearly twenty years and co-founded the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans.
Further details about Marsalis’s residency schedule will be announced in fall 2025.
