Events Calendar

Composers for this year’s 42nd Annual World Premiere Series event are Dr. Wycliffe Gordon (H. ’06) and Jennifer Krupa. Dr. Gordonhas an impressive career touring the world performing to great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. The Jazz Journalists Association named him “Trombonist of the Year” a record-breaking 16 times, and he’s topped Downbeat Critics Poll for “Best Trombone” for an unprecedented seven times. His most recent awards include the “Louie Award”, the International Trombone Award and the Satchmo Award, among others. Wycliffe is a prolific recording artist and is extremely popular for his unmatched signature sound, plunger technique and unique vocals. He can be heard on hundreds of recordings, soundtracks, live DVD’s and documentaries, and has an extensive catalog of original compositions that span the various timbres of jazz and chamber music. His arrangement of the theme song to NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard daily across the globe. Gordon is a regular guest at Scranton, and a return guest to the series. Krupa, also a returning guest to the series and regular guest artist at Scranton, made her professional reviewed debut in the university’s Houlihan McLean Center, performing with The Wycliffe Gordon Quintet. She has contributed original works and arrangements to a wide variety of ensembles, featured in recordings and performances across the globe. Her extensive discography spans nearly 30 recordings, with artists such as Wycliffe Gordon, Johnny Mandel, Ted Nash, Kristen Lee Sergeant, Leigh Pilzer, the Scott Silbert Big Band, the Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra, and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra. In her two-decade tenure with the United States Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble, Krupa held multiple key roles, including music director, arranger, tour manager, operations and personnel manager, and trombonist.

The primary focus of Performance Music at The University of Scranton is its student choral and instrumental performing ensembles. Because there is no music major at the University, all enrolled Scranton students (undergraduate and graduate) are eligible for membership in the University bands, choirs, string ensembles, and steel drum band with neither an audition nor enrollment fee required for membership. Hundreds of students participate in the ensembles each year.