Because in Pittsburgh, Jazz is Life. PITTSBURGH, PA — As MCG Jazz celebrates 40 years of preserving, presenting, and promoting jazz, the award-winning organization announces a milestone Anniversary Season that honors its legacy while spotlighting the artists shaping the future of the art form. For four decades, MCG Jazz has built an enduring home for jazz music — one that uplifts Pittsburgh as a keystone in the jazz community and welcomes audiences into a space where world-class performance meets shared cultural experience. The 2026–2027…
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Stage Set for 40th Anniversary. PITTSBURGH, PA — MCG Jazz closed its 39th Season last week ending with a remarkable 94% overall capacity for the subscription season concerts. This includes 11of the 20 regular season performances completely sold out! MCG Jazz Founder and Executive Producer states, “This past season brought many new jazz fans to our music hall to share cultural memories and enjoy a sense of belonging. I have not seen such passionate enthusiasm for the music since before the pandemic.” The MCG Jazz 40th Anniversary Season, opens…
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Lifetime Achievement Award Pittsburgh's Own Marty Ashby Receives Award Honoring Presenting in Jazz PITTSBURGH, PA | NOVEMBER 12, 2025 — Marty Ashby, Executive Producer of MCG Jazz, has been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by DownBeat magazine, the world’s leading jazz publication. Ashby’s name appears on the cover of the November issue alongside a feature article celebrating his decades-long contributions to jazz. This honor comes at a milestone moment: MCG Jazz is embarking on its 40th anniversary, marking four decades of presenting world-class jazz in Pittsburgh…
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MCG Jazz continues to build momentum in its education programming with the help of two recent donations that support its after-school initiatives. Together, these contributions strengthen our organization’s ability to provide meaningful, hands-on music education to students across the region. Continued Partnership with the Find Your Light Foundation For the second year in a row, MCG Jazz has been awarded funding from the Find Your Light Foundation, receiving a $2,500 grant in 2026 to support its Tell Your Story program. 'Tell Your Story' gives students the…
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Recognized in the February 2026 Great Jazz Venues Guide,MCG Jazz Continues Its Global Legacy of Live Jazz Excellence. MCG Jazz has once again been named one of the world’s top jazz venues by DownBeat Magazine. DownBeat’s annual Great Jazz Venues Guide honors premier jazz clubs worldwide for artistic quality, acoustics, atmosphere, ambiance, and dedication to preserving and advancing the art form that is jazz. Included alongside amazing venues such as Caffè Vivace (Cincinnati), SJZ Break Room (San Jose), Doc’s Motorworks (Houston), Jazz Cave at the NJW (Nashville),…
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MCG Jazz Announces Season 38 -- The Season of Firsts Welcome to the 2024/25 Season of Firsts. Every performance will feature artist who have never performed at MCG Jazz or are long-time friends presenting a brand new project. Every concert will entourage you to experience the past, present and future of jazz. We have added pre-concert activities exploring our vast jazz archives and new concession options. Beginning in Fall 2024, MCG Jazz is launching an Artist-In-Residence program with pianist, composer and producer Ray Angry. Ray…
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I had a wonderful time talking about Jazz, Modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright for the Fallingwater webinar on March 22, 2022. To watch the archive recording of the webinar, please go to, I played clips from the following songs during the presentation. The songs are listed by the song title, artist and the album title. Sing Sing Sing (with a Swing): Benny Goodman, The Essential Benny Goodman Body and Soul: Coleman Hawkins, Body and Soul In The Mood: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. The…
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MCG Jazz 35th Anniversary Season Restarts LIVE JAZZ in a New Concert Hall The concert season is a restart of programs that MCG Jazz was unable to present during the COVID-19 shutdown during 2020 and 2021 in the newly renovated concert hall. Upgrades to the concert hall will take place over the Summer of 2021 and will include new seats, an updated stage, new flooring, video projection, and accessibility upgrades. On September 24 and 25, the Yellowjackets will be the first artists to perform on…
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MCG Jazz The New Jazz Age Goes Virtual SPRING 2021 STREAMING CONCERT SERIES 7 PREMIERES and 1 STAR-STUDDED GALA FINALE In an effort to keep everyone safe, MCG Jazz is pausing all previously planned in-person concerts and educational events. When restrictions are lifted and we can safely hold in-person events, we will. We do not have a date set to reopen our doors, but we are proactively working with artists, their managers and agents to present these artists when it is safe to do so.…
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The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra explores the vast, diverse repertoire of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein on stunning, revelatory new album Bernstein Reimagined, due out January 29, 2021 via MCG Jazz, explores lesser-known Bernstein pieces through the transformative lens of five gifted jazz arrangers Legendary composer Leonard Bernstein once called jazz “the ultimate common denominator of the American musical style.” The music made a profound impact on Bernstein’s work, not only in the more explicit “jazziness” of his work in musical theater, but throughout his “serious”…
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