MARCUS ROBERTS

Pianist Marcus Roberts is often hailed as “the genius of the modern piano”. He is known throughout the world for his many contributions to jazz music as well as his commitment to integrating the jazz and classical idioms to create something wholly new. Roberts grew up in Jacksonville, FL where his mother's gospel singing and the music of the local church left a lasting impact on him. He began teaching himself to play piano at age five after losing his sight but didn't have his first formal lesson until age 12 at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. At age 18, he went on to study classical piano at Florida State University with the great Leonidas Lipovetsky. In 2014, his life and work were featured on a segment (“The Virtuoso”) of the famed CBS television show, 60 Minutes.

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Roberts has won numerous awards and competitions over the years, including the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement. Most recently, in 2024, he received the prestigious Dorothy and David Dushkin Award from the Music Institute of Chicago. Roberts holds multiple honorary doctoral degrees including degrees from The Juilliard School, Bard College, and Brigham Young University.

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Roberts’ critically-acclaimed legacy of recorded music reflects his tremendous artistic versatility, and his unique approach to jazz performance. His recordings include solo piano, duets, trio, large ensembles, and symphony orchestra. His first recording with orchestra (Portraits in Blue, Sony Classical, 1996) was nominated for a Grammy. Since that time, he has performed "Rhapsody in Blue" countless times and, as he often says, “every version is completely different”. His popular video recording with the Berlin Philharmonic showcases that arrangement as well as his ground-breaking arrangement of Gershwin's "Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra”.

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Roberts launched his own record label, J-Master Records, in 2009 and since then he has released several popular recordings on that label including New Orleans Meets Harlem, Romance, Swing, and the Blues, Trio Crescent: Celebrating Coltrane, and many others. One of Roberts’ more recent endeavors is his band called the “Modern Jazz Generation” (MJG), a multigenerational band that is the realization of his long-standing dedication to training and mentoring younger musicians.

 

In addition to his renown as a performer, Roberts is also an accomplished composer. He has received numerous commissions including awards from Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, ASCAP, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Savannah Music Festival (who co-commissioned him to write his first piano concerto—"Spirit of the Blues: Piano Concerto in C-Minor”). In 2016, Roberts premiered his second piano concerto (“Rhapsody in D for Piano and Orchestra”), commissioned by Seiji Ozawa and the Saito Kinen Orchestra. In 2020, he was commissioned by the American Symphony Orchestra to write a short suite of music for jazz band and strings. This short film entitled United We Play was released in late 2020. Then, in 2021, Roberts was awarded a grant by South Arts and the Doris Duke Foundation for the creation of a new audio-video project, Tomorrow’s Promises. This suite blends music and storytelling and was premiered in June of 2022. That same year, Roberts and his trio were featured on a recording by violinist Daniel Hope entitled America. That same year, Roberts joined the American Symphony Orchestra again for the world-premiere of two all-new arrangements of Ellington’s orchestral works at Carnegie Hall —"New World A-Comin’” and “Three Black Kings”. Most recently, Roberts created a new arrangement of James P. Johnson’s “Yamekraw” and this piece was premiered and recorded with the Cincinnati Pops and members of Roberts’ Modern Jazz Generation band. The recording entitled Harlem Renaissance included “Yamekraw” and several other pieces; it was released in the spring of 2026.

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Roberts is known for his generosity as a musician, providing support and mentoring to a large network of younger musicians. He also continues to strive to find ways to serve the blind and other disabled groups, working with various individuals and organizations supporting the disabled community. At the same time, he is always looking for ways to expand his knowledge and skills in various directions. Toward that end, he is grateful to have received two technology-related grants from the Doris Duke foundation in recent years.

 

Roberts is a professor of music at the College of Music at Florida State University and a Distinguished Professor of Music at Bard College.