Performance Music Starts Fall Concerts Saturday

Eclectic Port Mande Quartet will kick off Performance Music’s fall 2021 concert schedule on Saturday, Sept. 18.
In Concert: Port Mande Quartet, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton, will take place Saturday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center. From left: pianist/producer Jeremy Ajani Jordan and clarinetist Mark Dover.
In Concert: Port Mande Quartet, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton, will take place Saturday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center. From left: pianist/producer Jeremy Ajani Jordan and clarinetist Mark Dover.

The stunningly cross-genre combo Port Mande Quartet will kick off Performance Music at The University of Scranton’s fall 2021 concert season on Saturday, Sept. 18.

The concert, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton, will begin at 7:30 p.m. inside the University’s Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton.

Admission is free, with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis for invited guests of Performance Music and all members of the University community.

Port Mande is a collaborative partnership between clarinetist Mark Dover of Imani Winds and pianist/producer Jeremy Ajani Jordan. For this performance, they will be joined by Johannes Felscher, bass, and Jimmy Macbride, drums.

A play on a “portmanteau” – a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two words – Port Mande appropriately blends Dover and Jordan’s vast musical influences and work within the classical, jazz, hip hop, gospel, pop, electronic and world music genres. The duo’s overriding mission is to bring all cultures of people together by embracing music of all types, and in July 2020 they released their self-produced debut EP, “Is This Loss?”

Individually, Dover and Jordan have collaborated and performed with numerous marquee artists, among them Yo Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Gil Kalish, Imani Winds, Vulfpeck, Edward Simon, Brian Blade, Scott Colley, David Binney, Cyrille Aimee, Charles Yang and the Temptations.

Recently, Port Mande has performed original music at National Sawdust as part of Chris Gryme’s Open G Series, as well at National Sawdust live on Chicago’s WFMT and New York City’s WKCR, premiering Jonathan Ragonese’s “Non-Poem 4” as part of the Live at National Sawdust Series and Relevant Tones. In addition, they have played Emerald City Music in Seattle, Lyrica Music in New Jersey and other New York venues including DROM, Spectrum and Rockwood Music Hall.

Dover is a member of the award-winning Imani Winds, and serves on the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music, Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts and the Aaron Copland School of Music at CCNY Queens.

A winner of The Steinway Concerto Competition, Jordan has appeared as a soloist and with chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the world.

All audience members must wear masks throughout the performance. University campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage.

For more information on the concert, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit scranton.edu/music. For more on Port Mande, visit: markdovermusic.com/port-mande.

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