Victor Goines Performing With University of Scranton Jazz Band on Nov. 7

The University of Scranton Jazz Band will take the stage Saturday, Nov. 7, with acclaimed woodwind performer, composer, arranger and jazz educator Victor Goines joining it as the evening’s guest soloist.

Presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton, the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. Goines will also offer a free woodwind masterclass for musicians ranging from 16-year-old students to adult teachers and professionals. Student musicians under age 16 are welcome to attend accompanied by a parent, guardian or music teacher.

At the concert, the University's student jazz ensemble will perform a variety of works that prominently feature Goines on woodwinds.

“The program will feature a wide variety of jazz styles, showcasing the versatility of both our guest artist and our band," said Janelle Decker, Performance Music executive director.

“I have been listening to, observing, working with and making music in one form or another with Vic since 1996, and every single time I find myself shaking my head in amazement at his virtuosity," Cheryl Y. Boga, Performance Music artistic director, said of Goines.

Goines is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, arranger and educator from New Orleans. A decades-long member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis Septet, he has performed and recorded worldwide, including on Marsalis’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Blood on the Fields and Ted Nash’s Grammy-winning Presidential Suite. As a composer, Goines has written more than 400 original works commissioned by organizations and ensembles throughout the world, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School and The University of Scranton, and he has collaborated with legends across musical genres, including Eric Clapton, Dianne Reeves, Ellis Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Wycliffe Gordon and Ruth Brown, among many others.  

Education has run parallel to the bandstand for Goines' entire career — from decades of university teaching to his tenure as the founding Director of Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School. He has taught, mentored and built programs that shaped a generation of working musicians, including numerous highly notable artists of the stature of Jon Batiste, Aaron Diehl, Yasushi Nakamura and many others. 

That work continues in three forms: workshops and clinics for ensembles and schools; curriculum consulting for institutions building or refining jazz programs; and a limited studio of private students in clarinet, saxophone and composition and arranging. Goines has also held teaching positions at Florida A&M University, the University of New Orleans, Loyola University New Orleans and Xavier University.

The University of Scranton Jazz Band is a 25-member ensemble of big band-style instrumentation, made up of University of Scranton student musicians from majors spanning the curriculum. They perform five or more times per year, and the majority of their performances are open to the public, free of admission charge and often feature a nationally or internationally renowned guest soloist.

Also, on Friday, Nov. 6, Goines will present a lecture, titled "Jazz: From the Streets and Clubs to the Schools and Concert Halls" as part of the Schemel Forum's World Affairs Luncheon Seminars at the University. For more information on that event, visit www.scranton.edu/schemelforum.

For further information on the concert, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu, or visit scranton.edu/music. For more information on Goines, visit victorgoines.com.

IF YOU GO:

What: IN CONCERT: The University of Scranton Jazz Band featuring guest soloist Victor Goines, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton
When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton
Admission: Free
Masterclass: Same day, same place, 4 p.m., also free