Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2025–’26 concert season will explore the enduring ties between jazz, the African continent and its diaspora.

Louis Moholo-Moholo formed The Blue Notes with Johnny Dyani, Mongezi Feza, Chris McGregor, Nikele Moyake and Dudu Pukwana, a group that championed free-jazz with an African sensibility during the 1960s and ’70s.

“It’s the friendships, the shared experiences and the rhythms and harmonies that tie us together across cultures,” says Rachel Therrien.

“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”

“I’m not sure if everybody wants just angry music,” says Tobia Meinhart. “Maybe we need something more hopeful and inspiring instead.”

“I had no idea I was gonna be a musician,” says Ayala. “God put music on my plate.”

Susie Ibarra’s Pulitzer-winning extended composition Sky Islands is a musical call to action that draws attention to the Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity.

To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.

“I eventually want to keep experimenting with being able to add my own granito de arena, my little thing that I can add to it,” says Lucía about her brand of jazz with a Mexican flavor.

“I like to think of composition, especially in jazz, as setting up a system of constraints and finding the freedom within those constraints,” said pianist Dan Tepfer, shown here with saxophonist Ben Wendel.