WCU Criterions Jazz Ensemble to Close Season with May 1 Concert Featuring Clarinetist
Mark Dover
West Chester University’s renowned Criterions Jazz Ensemble will perform its final concert of the season on Friday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre, Swope Music Building and Performing Arts Center, 817 S. High Street, West Chester. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.
Under the direction of Professor of Jazz Studies Jonathan Ragonese, the ensemble will be joined by Grammy® Award-winning clarinetist Mark Dover. The program features a new concerto by Ragonese alongside big band works by 20th-century composers including Leonard Bernstein and Igor Stravinsky.
Dover has been a member of Imani Winds since 2016 and has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Albany symphonies, as well as the American Composers Orchestra. In 2024, he received a Grammy® Award as both performer and producer for “Best Classical Compendium” for Imani Winds’ album Passion for Bach and Coltrane. He joined the chamber ensemble yMusic in 2023.
His recent appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall Presents with both Imani Winds and yMusic, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series with yMusic, and debuts at La Jolla Music Society and Tippet Rise Arts Center.
Dover has performed widely across the United States and internationally at venues including Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center, the Elbphilharmonie, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to his work with Imani Winds, he performs with the Manhattan Chamber Players and has appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra at the Kent Blossom Music Festival, The Knights, and the Nu Deco Ensemble, among others.
He joined the chamber music faculty at Curtis Institute of Music in 2021. More information is available at www.markdovermusic.com.
The Criterions is one of the longest-running university jazz ensembles in the nation, with roots dating back to the 1920s as a student-led dance band. Today, it continues as a premier ensemble known for its artistry and swing, advancing West Chester University’s legacy of jazz through performance, education, and collaboration.