Jazz at Lincoln Center today announced Dave Chappelle, award-winning American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer, will host the organization’s 2025 Gala, Duke Ellington at 125, on April 30, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, at Broadway 60th Street in New York City.
Proceeds from Duke at 125, an exclusive benefit performance, support Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mission to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy.
Chappelle, alumnus of Washington, D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, has a long connection to the music. A jazz fan who cites Thelonious Monk as one of his favorite musicians, Chappelle is an amateur jazz pianist and has appeared at jazz festivals and clubs throughout the years.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Gala concert will be anchored by the peerless Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Special guests include members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, drummer Jeff Hamilton, flautist Baqir Abbas, and vocalist Kate Kortum, alongside the talented alumni of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s signature education program, Essentially Ellington, as well as rising stars in the organization’s youth programs. Three decades of excellence in jazz education will share the bandstand, all rooted in the music of Duke Ellington.
The 2025 Ed Bradley Award for Leadership in Jazz will be awarded to H. E. Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation and Founder and Artistic Director of Abu Dhabi Festival. The 2025 Artistic Achievement Award will be awarded to Toshiko Akiyoshi, pianist, and monumental jazz composer.
Jazz at Lincoln Center also announced new international awards to honor individuals who have built organizations that have greatly impacted their jazz communities. The inaugural recipients are Greg Quigley of the Jazz Music Institute (JMI) in Brisbane, Australia; and Maribel Torre and Eugenio Elias of De Quinta Producciones in Mexico City, Mexico.
In 1996, Greg Quigley founded JMI, a private higher education provider based in Brisbane, Australia that delivers a range of courses in jazz performance, and also hosts Essentially Ellington Down Under. This award will be presented by JLCO trombonist and Jazz Houston founder Vincent Gardner.
Maribel Torre and Eugenio Elias of De Quinta Producciones in Mexico City, Mexico have been dedicated jazz presenters for many years. For over a decade, they have hosted the JALC-curated New York Jazz All Stars series and bring nine bands to tour the country each year. In addition to producing visiting artists’ performances, De Quinta Producciones’s work offers educational programs and master classes that impact thousands of students while engaging new audiences. This award will be presented by JLCO saxophonist Alexa Tarantino and bassist Russell Hall.
Following the Gala concert, the celebration continues with a festive dinner and dancing in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Ertegun Atrium and sky-lined Appel Room. The evening culminates in an after-party at Dizzy’s Club featuring the Norman Edwards Excitement Band.
Gala ticket prices begin at $1,750; table prices, $35,000. For tickets, please contact the Jazz at Lincoln Center Events Office at 212-245-6570 or [email protected]. For more information, visit jazz.org/gala.
A limited number of concert-only tickets at $150 to $750 are available for purchase at jazz.org 24 hours a day or by calling Center Charge at 212-721-6500, open daily from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located on Broadway at 60th Street, Ground Floor. Box office hours are Tuesday-Sunday: 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. (or 30 minutes past curtain). On Wednesdays, prior to a Rose theater concert, the Box Office will open at 10 a.m.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala co-chairs include Dr. Donna Astion and Michael Fricklas, Clarence Otis, and Beth Chartoff Spector and honorary co-chair, Mercedes Ellington.
ABOUT DAVE CHAPPELLE
Dave Chappelle is an award-winning American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer widely recognized as one of the most influential entertainers of his generation. He is the 2019 recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the 2025 NAACP President’s Award. Chappelle’s work in television and film includes his groundbreaking sketch comedy series “Chappelle’s Show,” which became the best-selling TV show in DVD history, multiple Netflix comedy specials, and memorable guest appearances on “Saturday Night Live.” He has earned five Emmy Awards, including three for his Netflix specials and two for hosting “Saturday Night Live” (2017, 2021), where his most recent 17-minute monologue stands as the longest in the show’s 50-year history. Chappelle has won six Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album, including his most recent for “The Dreamer” (2025).
Thank you to Rosenthal Wine Merchant for donating wines for the evening.
A very special thanks to Jody and John Arnhold for their extraordinary support of
Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
We proudly recognize leadership support from Dalio Philanthropies;
Howard Gilman Foundation, Inc.; Mellody Hobson and George Lucas;
Michele and Mark Mandel; Simon Family Foundation; and the Zou Family Fund.
Major support is provided by the Abrams Foundation; Angela and Robert Kissane;
Manitou Fund; the Ambrose Monell Foundation;
the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; and Seedlings Foundation.
Generous support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly acknowledges its 2024-25 season partner:
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Leadership support for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s concert season
is provided by Lynne and Richard Pasculano.
Artists, schedules, and venues are subject to change.