Annual Yevich Concert Features Wycliffe Gordon Quintet, Sponsored by Wenzels
On Sunday, Feb. 19, the 9th Annual Gene Yevich Memorial Concert, sponsored by Dave and Janet Wenzel, will feature The Wycliffe Gordon Quintet. The performance, offered free of charge, begins at 7:30 p.m. at The University of Scranton’s Houlihan-McLean Center.
Performance Music at The University of Scranton will present the 9th Annual Gene Yevich Memorial Concert Sunday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center. This year’s concert, honoring the late Gene Yevich who served as fire chief for the city of Scranton during the Wenzel administration, features legendary musical ambassador and interpreter of America’s music Wycliffe Gordon and his quintet, and is sponsored by former Scranton mayor Dave Wenzel and his wife, Janet. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.
Gene Yevich, who passed away in 2005, served with the Scranton Fire Department for decades before retiring in 1989. He was a popular and talented local musician, and had many close connections to the University. He was married for almost 50 years to the former Julia Pucher, with whom he had three children, University graduates Michael Yevich and Cynthia Yevich, and Cheryl Yevich Boga, who serves as director of Performance Music at the University. His grandchildren are Joseph Boga, a 2014 graduate of The Juilliard School, who returns to the University regularly to perform and lead clinics and masterclasses for student musicians, and Magdalyn Boga, who earned a master’s degree from the University and is a member of the History Department faculty and Performance Music staff there.
In January 2017, Gordon was named “Trombonist of the Year” by the International Trombone Association in recognition of his achievements at the highest level of creative and artistic output in performance, composition, arranging, teaching, conducting, research and service. He maintains an impressive career touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz, receiving great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his exceptional technique and signature sound has solidified Gordon’s place in musical history, and he headlines at legendary jazz venues, concert halls, and performing arts centers throughout the world. As a composer, he is commissioned frequently, and has an extensive catalog of original compositions that span the various timbres of jazz and chamber music. In addition to performing, composing and recording, Gordon is one of America’s most persuasive and committed music educators. His work with young musicians and audiences from elementary schools to universities all over the world is extensive and is powerful evidence of his unique ability to relate musically to people of all ages. A regular guest soloist, composer and teaching artist at Scranton for more than two decades, Gordon received an honorary doctorate from the University in 2006, and also served as the school’s commencement speaker that year.
For more information, contact Performance Music at the University by calling 570-941-7624, emailing music@scranton.edu, or visiting scranton.edu/music. For more information on Gordon, visit wycliffegordon.com.
