The Forefront presents a work demonstrating the evolution of the trumpet section. Composed by Bobby Lewis under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the piece contains differing jazz styles and types of trumpet-ensemble writing, from King Oliver, early Duke Ellington, Count Basie, swing, and be-bop, to the present. Forefront members are Bobby Lewis, Arthur Hoyle, George Bean, Jerry Coleman, Russ Iverson, and Rufus Reid.

With the launch of this website, the MCA has created a platform for archiving and publishing images and stories from our 50-plus-year history. Though many exhibition and event pages currently lack descriptions or illustrations, we’re committed to a program of ongoing research that will fill in the blanks over time. If you have information about past MCA exhibitions to share, we’d be delighted to hear from you. There are also gaps in what is shown online, and our Library and Archives are always the most complete record of our history. If you are interested in further information about our exhibitions, performances, events, programs, or anything else, please reach out to us via email.