A world-famous jazz musician and his band have set their sights on Muncie.

Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will stop at Ball State this weekend. This show, which is the last of their tour, is for Ball State’s centennial celebration.

It’s no coincidence that Marsalis is coming to a college campus. With multiple youth jazz programs and contests, education is something he holds dear.

“I’ve been coming upon teaching our kids and to see them in the world, in the future, and say, ‘Ok, this is what the world has to offer,’ and education has to be a big part of it, especially in a democracy,” Marsalis said. “And education is not always something like castor oil or something nasty for you to eat. You know, many times, you can be turned onto something you didn’t know existed, and it can be exciting.”

Marsalis grew out of a kind of jazz mentorship himself. When he was younger, he played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, a band of up-and-coming musicians who Blakey would teach and tour with.

Now, Marsalis has nine Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize for his album “Blood on the Fields,” the first jazz composition to win the music category.

Scott Routenberg, a Ball State jazz professor, believes this weekend’s concerts could help define some jazz students’ careers.

“When we have an incredible guest like this coming in, they’re here for a short amount of time. It’s an ephemeral thing, like music itself,” Routenberg said. “So I think it’s pretty important if you think about it that way for our students, that this experience with Wynton and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, it could really change their lives.”

Marsalis, though, hopes to see students of all disciplines in the audience.

“I would like to see more colleges have programs where the students attended more of the arts offerings. A lot of times, you play a college, in college towns, and the students don’t populate the concerts,” Marsalis said. “But some colleges do. I look forward to playing and we look forward to playing. Our music, we don’t really have a generation gap in our music.”

Jazz music and Ball State have similar histories. Last year, the first jazz recording celebrated its 100th anniversary. After Ball State’s Centennial, Routenberg sees a bright future for the school’s jazz studies.

“Jazz is really having a Renaissance today, a lot of people are saying, and attracting some of the most talented young musicians from all over the world,” Routenberg said.

At previous stops on this tour, Marsalis and his band played tunes such as the fast-paced “Pursuance” and the sauntering “Ramblin’.” The setlist for the Muncie performance was not available.

Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will perform twice, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Ball State’s Sursa Hall.

Sara Barker is a reporter for a Ball State University arts journalism class.