Experience The John Pizzarelli Trio on January 15, and Emmet Cohen and his All-Star Quintet on February 26, 2026
St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) is West Michigan’s best for experiencing world renowned jazz artists, exciting folk artists and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Tickets for SCMC’s Spectacular Jazz Series, Acoustic Café Folk Series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Series are on sale but are going fast.
Note: Just 40 tickets remain for The John Pizzarelli Trio on January 15 and Emmet Cohen and his All-Star Quintet performing on Feb 26, 2026.
The John Pizzarelli Trio will perform from Pizzarelli’s newest album, “Stage & Screen”, immortal songs of the past century – from the Broadway Stage to the Silver Screen. Along with world-renowned guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli, the Trio includes bassist Mike Karn and pianist Isaiah J. Thompson, two tremendous talents with whom Pizzarelli has discovered a scintillating chemistry.
February 26th brings gifted pianist Emmet Cohen and his all-star Quintet for an exciting evening of great jazz. Emmet Cohen and his all-star Quintet will feature a bold, reimagined experience of music highlighting the work of John Coltrane and Miles Davis who forever changed the course of jazz during their lifetimes.
On March 19th, Multi-Grammy Award winning band leader and saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his Quartet will appear on their “Belonging Tour”, for an already sold-out concert.
SCMC Executive & Artistic Director Cathy Holbrook remarks, “Our Spectacular Jazz Series concerts bring world-renowned jazz artists to the Royce Auditorium Stage every year. We are so happy to offer these amazing jazz concerts within our beautiful intimate Royce Auditorium. Since there are only about 40 tickets remaining for The John Pizzarelli Trio on January 15 and Emmet Cohen and his All-Star Quintet performing on Feb 26, 2026, we invite everyone who loves jazz to get tickets soon to experience the Spectacular Jazz Series this season!”
Tickets for the John Pizzarelli Trio – Stage & Screen and the Emmet Cohen “Presents Miles and Coltrane at 100” are available online at www.scmcgr.org or by calling 616-459-2224. Contact the Box Office Manager at tickets@scmcgr.org or 616-459-2224 x201 with questions or to join the waitlist.
John Pizzarelli Trio Bio
World-renowned guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli has dedicated many of his albums to the great songwriters and performers who helped establish the Great American Songbook and the pop music canon. These artists include Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Richard Rodgers, and Duke Ellington to name a few.
With his newest album entitled Stage & Screen, Pizzarelli and his remarkable trio cast a wider net to explore new sources for the most immortal songs of the past century: The Broadway Stage and the Silver Screen.
Pizzarelli finds inspiration in these classic songs from Broadway musicals and Hollywood films, a cleverly chosen repertoire that spans nearly nine decades, starting with a pair of songs from the 1925 musical No, No Nanette (“I Want To Be Happy” and “Tea For Two”), and leading into the 21st century with “I Love Betsy” from Jason Robert Brown’s “Honeymoon in Vegas” – a stage musical based on the 1992 film. In between there are pieces by such iconic songwriters and composers as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Cahn, and Jule Styne, and songs immortalized in cinema favorites like Casablanca.
Emmet Cohen Bio
Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation's pivotal figures in music and the related arts. Downbeat praised the "nimble touch, measured stride and warm harmonic vocabulary" he employs to communicate with other musicians and audiences at what he terms "the deepest level of humanity and individuality." Leader of the "Emmet Cohen Trio" and creator of the "Masters Legacy Series," Cohen is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist and dedicated music educator.
Emmet Cohen is the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis. Cohen was a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. He has appeared in the Newport, Monterey, Jerusalem, and North Sea jazz festivals, among others, and at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall and Washington's Kennedy Center. Cohen has headlined at the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Dizzy's
Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Jazz Standard, and Jazzhaus Montmartre. He is Hammond B-3 organist-in-residence at Harlem's SMOKE jazz club.
A Suzuki piano student at age three, Cohen holds jazz piano degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) and the University of Miami (B.M.). Emmet Cohen has performed, recorded, or collaborated with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart, Herlin Riley, Lea DeLaria, and Bill T. Jones.
Branford Marsalis Bio
Branford Marsalis continues to thrill audiences around the world while racking up achievements across diverse musical platforms, even after four decades in the international spotlight. From his initial recognition as a young jazz lion, he has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and educator, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining unwavering creative integrity. In the process he has become an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence winning three Grammy Awards, a Tony nomination for his work as a composer on Broadway, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as Jazz Master, and a 2021 Primetime EMMY nomination for the score he composed for the Tulsa Burning documentary.
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest some of pianist and educator, the late Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986 remains his primary performance vehicle. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions, and jazz and popular classics.
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead. However, the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet.
St. Cecilia Music Center Concert Tickets are available for purchase at www.scmcgr.org or by calling 616-459-2224. Contact the Box Office Manager at tickets@scmcgr.org or 616-459-2224 x201 with questions.
Spectacular Jazz Series
John Pizzarelli Trio
Thursday, January 16, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
A section $65
B section $50
C section $35
Emmet Cohen “Presents Miles and Coltrane at 100”
Thursday, February 26, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
A section $65
B section $50
C section $35
