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The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJMO) was founded in 1990 with an appropriation from the U.S. Congress in recognition of the importance of jazz in American cultural and its status as a national treasure. The orchestra, led by Artistic and Musical Director, David N. Baker (Chairman of the Jazz Department and Distinguished Professor of Music at Indiana University), serves as the orchestra-in-residence at the National Museum of American History, Division of Cultural History. The orchestra re-creates big band jazz as its composers and arrangers intended it to be played, stripping away intervening changes and alterations. The SJMO has rediscovered old classics, premiered new discoveries, and more recently has begun premiering new works. Composed of musicians drawn form across the United States, the orchestra plays authentic and compelling performances of the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, and many other masters. The SJMO presents free weekend concerts to visitors and residents of the nation’s capitol, educational workshops, tours nationally and internationally, and offers its own radio series, "Jazz Smithsonian," heard on more than 88 public radio stations across the United States and in six nations.
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