The Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra is a large German jazz ensemble led by Alexander von Schlippenbach. The orchestra performs orchestral jazz and experimental big band music and has included in its ranks such musicians as Misha Mengelberg and Kenny Wheeler. The orchestra, which performs rather infrequently, was established in 1988 by von Schlippenbach and has commissioned works by Carla Bley, Manfred Schoof and Willem Breuker, among others.