Fall 2024 Performances
Duo Corgano with David Lao Ball and Trevor Nuckols
September 4, 2024
Award-winning, Juilliard-trained organist David Ball is a widely acclaimed performer who has performed and recorded on many of the world’s leading concert hall and church instruments, both in the U.S. and abroad. He has been featured in Diapason and American Organist; broadcasted on “PipeDreams” and WQXR; appeared in Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival; won the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists; and was named one of The Diapason’s 2017 Class of 20 under 30, a peer-selected group of young people at the forefront of the organ field. David serves as Cathedral Organist and Head of Music Ministry at Christ Cathedral in the Diocese of Orange, California (formerly the Crystal Cathedral,) where he is primary steward of The Hazel Wright Organ, the fifth largest organ in the world, and serves as Musical Director of a variety of concert series there.
Trevor Nuckols performs as a leading soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer across the globe. The New York Times hailed Nuckols as “outstanding” and an “excellent soloist.” He has performed & recorded as solo horn of the Münchener Kammerorchester & with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also performed as guest principal horn with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Bad Reinchenhall Philharmoniker, and the Philharmonie Salzburg. He earned his Bachelor & Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, and a Postgraduate Diploma from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, and has won first prize at The International Horn Society’s Premiere Soloist Competition, The Juilliard Concerto Competition, the Music Academy of the West Concerto Competition, and The IHS Barry Tuckwell Award.
Joseph Boga and the Scranton Ramblers (featuring guitarist Stephane Wrembel
September 21, 2024
Joseph Boga is a member of the legendary group Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, which appears in NYC every Monday in their roost – Birdland. In addition to his work with Giordano and The Nighthawks, he also leads his own groups and has performed and/or recorded with a variety of other ensembles such as Stephane Wrembel’s Django New Orleans, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Jazz Museum in Harlem All-Stars, James Langton’s New York All-Star Big Band, The Kyle Athayde Dance Party, and with artists such as Stephane Wrembel, Wycliffe Gordon, Adrian Cunningham, Loren Schoenberg, Wynton Marsalis, and many others. His film appearances include Killers of the Flower Moon, season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Capote vs. The Swans, and others.
Stephane Wrembel is quite simply one of the finest guitar players in the world. Though specializing in the Django Reinhardt style, he revels in transcending and expanding, and the breadth and range of his playing and compositions are unmatched. His music incorporates jazz, blues, classical, swing, flamenco and rock. All of these influences come together as a genre identifiable only as Stephane Wrembel. This prolific musician, composer, educator, and musical director has released a steady stream of music since 2002, truly making his mark as one of the most original guitar voices in contemporary music. He tours the world and has headlined venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Town Hall in NYC, and The Lyon Opera House in France, and has dazzled audiences at events like Montreal Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Django Reinhardt Festival in France, Ellnora Guitar Festival, Caramoor Jazz Festival and many others. Wrembel won a Grammy award for his tune Bistro Fada, which Woody Allen used as the theme song for his 2011 Oscar-winning film, Midnight In Paris.
General Recital: Student Musicians
October 9, 2024
Student musicians from Performance Music at the University performed solo, duet, trio, and small group renditions of various repertoire. Smaller groups are made up of members from within the large ensembles, and may include: Steel Drum Band, Saxophone Ensemble, String Quartet, Flute Ensemble, Brass Quartet, Percussion Ensemble, and solos, duos, trios, and small vocal groups.
Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks
October 18, 2024
For over 50 years, Grammy-winner, New York native and multi-instrumentalist Vince Giordano has almost single-handedly kept alive a wonderful genre of American music that continues to spread the joy and pathos of an era that shaped our nation. Giordano’s passion, commitment to authenticity, and knowledge led him to create a sensational band of like-minded players, the Nighthawks. He and his band have performed in top New York nightclubs and concert halls including Birdland, The Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center, Newport Jazz Festival, 92nd St Y, and many others for the past five decades.
His extensive filmography includes "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Boardwalk Empire," "The Cotton Club," "Café Society," "Joker," "The Irishman" and many, many more. A Hudson West Productions feature documentary, "Vince Giordano – There’s a Future in the Past," opened in theaters in 2017. Giordano’s passion for music from the 1920’s & 30’s and the people that made it led him to amass an amazing collection of over 64,000 band arrangements and sheet music, 1920’s and 30’s films, 78rpm recordings, and jazz-age memorabilia. In addition to their extensive recording discography, several tunes recorded by Vince and the Nighthawks are used in video games: "BioShock," "Fallout 3" and "Fallout 4."
University Jazz Band with Guest Soloist Alvin Atkinson
October 26, 2024
Alvin Atkinson, Jr., a member of Wycliffe Gordon and His International All-Stars, is a six-time U.S. Jazz Ambassador and has traveled the globe performing America’s classical music. His group, Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants, has appeared in South America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Russia. Known for his dynamic playing style and versatility across various genres, bandleader and educator Atkinson has recorded and performed with jazz legends Wycliffe Gordon, Vanessa Ruben, Paquito D’Rivera, Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Cecil Bridgewater, Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman, Roy Hargrove, Cyrus Chestnut, Gerri Allen, Eddie Henderson, ELEW, Maceo Parker, Shirley Scott, and many others.
The University Jazz Band is a 28-member ensemble with big-band-style instrumentation, made up of Scranton student musicians from majors across 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.
University String Orchestra
November 15, 2024
The University String Orchestra is a 35+ member ensemble comprised of members of the university community from majors and departments spanning the curriculum – most of them undergraduate students, joined by a few graduate students, alumni, and members of the faculty – none of whom are music majors, who are all brought together by their mutual love of music-making.