The trumpet, in the wrong hands, is a blunt instrument. In Chris Botti’s, it sighs, it whispers, it bends a melody until it aches. The Grammy-winning trumpeter brings that singular tone to Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Thursday, June 25, 2026 — and for once the setting is as refined as the playing. This is a headliner slot at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Botti’s sixth turn at the festival, and it lands in one of the most acoustically revered rooms in the state.
About Chris Botti
Botti is the rare jazz instrumentalist who crossed over without selling out. Over two-plus decades he has shared stages and studios with Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Andrea Bocelli and Frank Sinatra’s old arrangers, blending jazz improvisation with pop phrasing and a classical sense of restraint. The result reaches well past the jazz faithful while still satisfying them. His live shows lean cinematic — lights low, the band locked in tight, the trumpet floating above it all with a warmth that’s instantly his. He has sold millions of records and built a reputation as one of the most reliable ticket-sellers in instrumental music, which is exactly why the festival keeps inviting him back.
The Venue
Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre opened in 1922, built by George Eastman as a cultural anchor for Rochester, and it still seats around 2,326 under its famous chandelier. The acoustics are the draw — this is a room engineered for music, and for an instrument as dynamically sensitive as the trumpet, that matters enormously. Every breath, every soft attack, every held note will reach the back of the balcony intact. There are few better-matched pairings of artist and hall anywhere in Upstate New York.
Tickets & Details
Chris Botti performs at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Thursday, June 25, 2026. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. with the show at 8 p.m. This is a ticketed, reserved-seat festival headliner — not a Club Pass show — with prices reported from roughly $74 in the balcony up to around $126 for box seats, all fees included. Check the link for current availability.
A Botti concert works best when every piece lines up — the player, the instrument, the repertoire, and the room. Kodak Hall supplies that last ingredient in full. If you came up in the Finger Lakes and have driven past the Eastman marquee a hundred times without going in, this is the night to fix that. Rochester, this one’s a treat.