MJF69 Commission: America 250

The 69th Monterey Jazz Festival’s Commission Artist will be announced in early May, 2026.

The commission piece will be America 250.

Many memorable and important works have been composed and debuted at Monterey since 1958 — including Pete Phillips’ Toccata for Jazz Percussion and Orchestra featuring Max Roach, Joe Morello and Shelly Manne (1958); Duke Ellington’s Suite Thursday (1960); Jon Hendricks’ Evolution of the Blues Song (1960); Dave and Iola Brubeck’s The Real Ambassadors (1962) and Cannery Row Suite (2006); Charles Mingus’ expansion on Meditation on Integration (1964) and Rebel Voices (1965); Gil Fuller’s On the Road to Monterey and Angel City Suite (1965); Mary Lou Williams’ West Coast premiere of St. Martin de Porres (1965); Miljenko Prohaska’s Concerto No. 2  with the Don Ellis Orchestra (1967); John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet’s Dido’s Lament (1969); Duke Ellington’s The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse (1970); and Gerald Wilson’s Happy Birthday Monterey Suite (1977).

Over MJF’s long history, many artists wrote music to be debuted at the festival — both officially and unofficially —and the modern era Commission Artist Program was inaugurated in 1994 and continues through today. Several of the contemporary commissioned works have come out on record and have won GRAMMY Awards as well.