New York Trumpet Ensemble to Perform Gene Yevich Memorial Concert
The New York Trumpet Ensemble performs at The University of Scranton’s Houlhan-Mclean Center. The ensemble will return to campus to perform at the fourth annual Gene Yevich Memorial Concert on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m.
The New York Trumpet Ensemble, directed by acclaimed trumpeter Mark Gould, will perform at the fourth annual Gene Yevich Memorial Concert on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in The University of Scranton’s Houlihan-McLean Center. The ensemble includes Gould, Joseph Boga (grandson of Yevich), Caleb Hudson and Mat Jodrell on trumpet, as well as Adam Birnbaum on piano and Phil Keuhn on bass.
Presented free of charge and open to the public, the concert is sponsored by former Scranton mayor Dave Wenzel and his wife, Janet. The concert honors the late Gene Yevich, who served as fire chief for the city of Scranton during Wenzel’s administration.
Gould served as principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera from 1974 to 2003. An active trumpet soloist and conductor, he has conducted and performed as a soloist with a wide variety of orchestras, wind groups and other ensembles. He has also performed as a chamber musician with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The MET Chamber Ensemble, Empire Brass, Canadian Brass, Summit Brass and many others. Gould has performed as a soloist on many recordings, most recently “Café 1930,” an album of trumpet and guitar music on EMI Classis/Angel Records. As principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, he performed in more than 40 “Live from Lincoln Center” performances on PBS and numerous audio recordings of operas and symphonic works under the direction of James Levine, including a number of Grammy Award-winning recordings. Gould serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School and The Manhattan School of Music. He also co-founded and co-directs the Scranton Brass Orchestra, which is sponsored by the University and is comprised of professional brass and percussion players from northeast Pennsylvania.
A native of northeast Pennsylvania, Joseph Boga is an undergraduate student at The Juilliard School and a trumpet student of Gould, Chris Jaudes and Wynton Marsalis. Currently serving as lead trumpet with The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, he performs professionally with many ensembles, both jazz and classical, and has appeared throughout the United States and at the Parma Jazz Festival in Italy. He has performed with a wide array of established and emerging artists, and his compositions and arrangements have been premiered and performed in America and abroad. As a trumpeter with the Wycliffe Gordon Septet and Big Band, he has appeared in venues ranging from Lincoln Center’s esteemed concert and club venues to the halftime show for a Giants playoff game. Recent performances include the premiere of Gordon’s new musical score for the Oscar Micheaux silent film “Within Our Gates” and an upcoming appearance in the documentary film “Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings The Band.” Committed to “passing it on” through mentoring young musicians, Boga has presented numerous masterclasses and clinics, and has been a member of the teaching staff of The Juilliard Jazz Camp in Atlanta and the Scranton Brass Seminar.
Hudson is a 2012 graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Raymond Mase, Gould and John Thiessen. He has distinguished himself as a soloist on both modern and baroque trumpet. Hailed by The New York Times as “brilliantly stylish,” he was soloist in the “Shostakovich Concerto for Piano and Trumpet” with Vladimir Feltsman at the 2009 Aspen Music Festival, and was soloist in the New York premiere of John Adams’ “City Noir” at Carnegie Hall in 2010, conducted by the composer. A native of Lexington, Ky., Hudson won multiple first prizes in the National Trumpet Competition – in the solo division in 2001 and 2004, and as a member of The Juilliard Trumpet Ensemble in 2009 and 2010. Hudson serves as principal trumpet of Symphony in C and has performed with the New World Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, New York Trumpet Ensemble, Ensemble ACJW, and the American Brass Quintet, and has performed at the Verbier Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West. An avid baroque musician, he has delivered performances with many acclaimed historical performance ensembles throughout the nation.
Jodrell, originally born in Perth, Western Australia, is now based in New York City, completing his master’s degree at The Juilliard School. Before relocating to America, he was one of the most in-demand trumpet players in Australia. Featured on numerous albums, he released his debut solo recording “Blues In The Night” in 2004 and toured extensively throughout the world. He recently led a concert at the Blue Note in honor of the legacy of the great Freddie Hubbard, and has performed on tour with Paul Anka, and as a member of the pit orchestra of the Broadway musical “Hair.” He received numerous accolades in his youth, including the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts’ Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, the Young Australian of the Year Awards, the James Morrison scholarship for most outstanding young Australian Jazz instrumentalist, and the Bob Wyllie scholarship for best graduating student.
Birnbaum is a member of the inaugural class of jazz studies at The Juilliard School and a student of Kenny Barron, Danilo Perez and Fred Hersch. He won the American Jazz Piano Competition to become the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter fellow in Jazz in 2004. He received the first ever “special honor” prize at the Martial Solal Competition in Paris and a Gold Disk award from Swing Journal. He toured West Africa as a part of the Rhythm Road program sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department, and has performed throughout the United States and abroad.
Kuehn is from Lucernemines and has been performing regularly in New York City for seven years. He has performed at jazz festivals and concert venues across the United States and abroad, including a performance at the White House with Billy Taylor, and a performance at Carnegie Hall with Jonathan Batiste. He has recorded with Jonathan Batiste, Brandon Lee, Justin Kauflin, and Cyrille-Aimee Daudel, as well as The Juilliard Jazz Ensembles. As composer, arranger and teacher, his arrangements have been performed and recorded by Jonathan Batiste and The Juilliard Jazz Ensembles.
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, director of Performance Music at The University of Scranton. His grandchildren are Joseph Boga and Magdalyn Boga, who earned a master’s degree from the University and is a member of the History Department faculty at Scranton.
