New York’s Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra--led by Wynton Marsalis [ tickets ]--has lined up a summer tour of North America that begins in June. Several late-April dates in the Midwest are planned before the official tour kick-off.

The fifteen-member orchestra tours annually, and is the “house orchestra” for Jazz at Lincoln Center activities. The group performs compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus and many others, according to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s official website.

In addition to a performance, the orchestra’s outing will feature educational activities in several cities, according to a spokesperson.

Trumpeter Marsalis--who was prominently featured in Ken Burns’ recent PBS documentary “Jazz”--is one of the best known jazz musicians of the day, and has received numerous honors for his work, including nine Grammy awards.

On March 20, Marsalis was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Marsalis becomes the ninth person to bear the title, which is bestowed on “individuals who possess widely recognized talents in the field of arts, literature, music and sports who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the United Nations,” according to Jazz at Lincoln Center.