Returning to Spoleto after his acclaimed 2025 collaboration with Cécile McLorin Salvant and the Festival Orchestra, Sullivan Fortner is one of today’s most celebrated jazz pianists. The first jazz pianist to receive a Gilmore Award, the inaugural 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award, Fortner is a virtuoso solo artist, bandleader, composer, and McLorin’s primary collaborator. At Spoleto 2026, experience two programs: an intimate solo recital showcasing his improvisational brilliance, and a trio performance highlighting playful counterpoint and ensemble mastery. Don’t miss this rare chance to see a visionary musician at the height of his powers.

Solo Game: Friday, June 5, 6:00pm & 8:00pm 
Sullivan Fortner, piano

Trio: Saturday, June 6, 6:00pm & 8:00pm
Sullivan Fortner, piano
Tyrone Allen II, bass
Kayvon Gordon, drums

About Sullivan Fortner
For more than a decade, GRAMMY Award-winning artist Sullivan Fortner has garnered international praise as a leader and a fierce collaborator. Recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award, he earned the 2026 Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Recording, 2025 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance on Samara Joy’s “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me” and the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album alongside Cécile McLorin Salvant for her acclaimed album The Window. Fortner also has earned Grammy nods for his 2025 release Southern Nights, his 2023 release Solo Game, and his provocative arrangement of “Optimistic Voices/No Love Dying” from Salvant’s 2022 release Ghost Song. 

As a solo leader he has issued Aria (2015); Moments Preserved (2018); Solo Game (2024), which earned 4-star reviews in DownBeat and France’s Telerama Magazine; and Southern Nights (2025) which landed Fortner on the February cover of DownBeat. 

The prolific artist has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield; frequent collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Chief Adjuah and the late Roy Hargrove. 

Playing solo or leading an orchestra, Fortner engages harmony and rhythmic ideas through curiosity and clarity. Coming up in New Orleans, he began playing piano at age 7, earning his Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). Fortner has performed at The Village Vanguard, Jazz at Lincoln Center, appeared at Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and Gillmore Keyboard jazz festivals. Further accolades include the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship, Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the Shifting Foundation Grant and the Western Jazz Presenters Grant.

Attendance at all events is subject to the Festival security policy.

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