Strathmore, an arts institution in North Bethesda, announced Wednesday that it’s formed its first in-house jazz orchestra.

The effort is Strathmore’s attempt to create an infrastructure for jazz and jazz musicians to thrive in a region eager for top-class performing arts, according to Joi Brown, Strathmore’s artistic director and vice president of programming.

“We’re sort of beta-testing it,” Brown told The Banner. It won’t be a year-round orchestra just yet, but plans are underway to host collaborations with touring artists as well as perform their own shows, Brown said, comparing it to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

The Strathmore Jazz Orchestra is composed of 17 saxophonists, trombonists and other musicians from the region and across the East Coast in a big-band format led by conductor and composer Daniel Jamieson. Their first concert is scheduled for Feb. 13 at the Music Center at Strathmore with jazz singer Kurt Elling.

Jamieson has had his work performed around North America and Europe and collaborated with performers such as vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant. He has been the staff arranger and music producer for the U.S. Army Field Band since 2016 and resides in the D.C. metro area.

Strathmore’s orchestra takes inspiration from New York City’s acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Brown said. That ensemble, led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, has performed several times at the Montgomery County venue in recent years — as well as other stages around the world. Brown was especially excited that Jamieson recruited drummer Allison Miller, a D.C. native who has performed her own work at Strathmore.

The idea to start an orchestra took root over lunch around 18 months ago, Brown said. Jamieson has the expertise to build a pipeline for young musicians.

“It really allows us to tap into the next generation of jazz leadership,” Brown said. “We all know Wynton Marsalis has been doing this for four decades, so he’s part of the venerable population, but there’s this up-and-coming group that’s really extraordinary.”

The timing of creating this orchestra dovetails with the dwindling of venues committed to elevating jazz in the region. Some fans have been searching for a concert hall that can continue to host top-tier musicians amid a shift in programming and continuing controversies at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“We see everything we’re doing as a resource for how we try to meet the moment for what the market and the industry most need right now,” Brown said.

“Our audiences are more present for us — Herbie Hancock was sold out two months ahead of time — so there’s certainly an appetite for the kinds of jazz musicians we’re bringing in.”