Piano-clarinet Duo to Perform on Oct. 19

Performance Music at the University welcomes pianist Jeremy Ajani Jordan and clarinetist Mark Dover for Oct. 19 recital.
Performance Music at The University of Scranton presents In Recital: Jeremy Ajani Jordan, piano, and Mark Dover, clarinet, on Friday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m., in the Houlihan-McLean Center. Admission is free.
Performance Music at The University of Scranton presents In Recital: Jeremy Ajani Jordan, piano, and Mark Dover, clarinet, on Friday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m., in the Houlihan-McLean Center. Admission is free.

On Friday, Oct. 19, Performance Music at The University of Scranton will present a recital by pianist Jeremy Ajani Jordan and clarinetist Mark Dover.

The recital will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the University’s Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission is free, with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis.

There will be a free woodwind masterclass at 4:30 that afternoon. The class is open to local amateur and professional woodwind players, ages 16 and up. Those interested in taking part should email music@scranton.edu to pre-register and receive further information.

Recital attendees can expect a unique program from these talented young musicians, said Performance Music Conductor and Director Cheryl Y. Boga.

“Jeremy is one of the most amazing young pianists in the United States,” Boga said. “He played here a few years ago, and we had pianists come in from New York and Philadelphia to hear him perform. Not only is he incredibly good, but he’s also kind of outside of the box in his approach. While he is a classical concert pianist who is extremely well trained and has performed everywhere to great acclaim, he also works hard to fuse his classical training with gospel, jazz and other music, and improvises brilliantly.”

Jordan has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at notable venues throughout the United States and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Rudolfinum in Prague. He has won several prestigious piano competitions, including the Steinway Competition, and received awards from the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., and the Gluck Community Service Fellowship.

Jordan received his master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he received the Van Cliburn and Irene Diamond scholarships and studied with Matti Raekallio, Regina Syrkin, Andre Watts, Yoshie Akimoto, Jerome Lowenthal and Eteri Andjaparidze.

Dover, meanwhile, brings his own significant credentials to the recital.

Lauded by Opera News for his “exemplary clarinet playing,” Dover has been a member of Grammy-nominated wind quintet Imani Winds since 2016, and his playing with the acclaimed American funk band Vulfpeck can be heard on the album, “Thrill of the Arts.” He has also collaborated with pianists Gil Kalish, Fabio Bidini and Jon Nakamatsu, violinists Caroline Goulding and Francesca de Pasquale, and cellist Brook Speltz of the Escher String Quartet.

Dover has conducted masterclasses at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, as well as the Manhattan School of Music and Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts. He’s performed with the Detroit Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New World Symphony.

In 2015, Dover performed the world premiere of Michael Thurber’s “Quadruple Concerto, Three Musketeers,” on NPR with the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra and soloists Kris Bowers, Charles Yang and Michael Thurber. Last year, Dover and Jordan gave the world premiere performance of Jonathan Ragonese’s “Non-Poem 4” live on Chicago’s WFMT and New York City’s WKCR as part of the “Live at National Sawdust” series.

“Together,” Boga said, “these two guys share an unusual passion for innovative music that crosses genres.”

For further information on the recital, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit scranton.edu/music. For more on Jordan and Dover, visit www.jeremyajanijordan.com and markdovermusic.com.

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