The Minnesota Orchestra will make use of one of the new rooms in its remodeled hall this season with a series of jazz concerts in the Target Atrium. The atrium looks out on Peavey Plaza and was built with the intention of hosting community events and less-formal concerts.

"Jazz in the Target Atrium" will consist of four programs curated by composer and Twin Cities jazz impresario Jeremy Walker. It is intended to pair jazz masters with local ensembles.

The series launches Dec. 2 with a concert that will be introduced by Wynton Marsalis, who will perform in Orchestra Hall that night. Marsalis is not scheduled to perform at the jazz show, but members of his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will play, with Walker leading the ensemble. Bassist Anthony Cox will join in. That show will start at 9:30 p.m., following the Marsalis holiday concert.

Pianist David Berkman will headline a concert at 8 p.m. Jan. 22. Cox, saxophonist Brandon Wozniak and drummer JT Bates will join Berkman, who teaches at the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York.

Tenor Tesfa Wondemagegnehu will perform April 16. Walker will join on piano, with Cox and Bates and singers Angela and Seth Keeton. Wondemagegnehu works at Minnesota Public Radio and sings throughout the Twin Cities.

The final concert is a late one, 10:30 p.m. May 8. This will follow a performance that night by Eric Whitacre with the Minnesota Orchestra. Trumpet player Ron Miles will join Walker, Cox and Bates.

Information on the jazz series is at 612-371-5656 or www.minnesotaorchestra.org.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299