West Chester University's Criterions Jazz Ensemble turns 100 in November, and the university is throwing a three-day party to mark it.
The celebration runs Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 8, at venues across the West Chester campus. It opens with a free concert and includes a ticketed Big Band-era dinner dance at $100 a plate. The weekend closes with a centennial concert featuring world premieres by two Grammy-nominated composers.
The university describes the Criterions as the nation's longest-running university jazz band. The ensemble started in the 1920s as a student-led ballroom dance band that played university dances, proms and post-Friday night football games. It became a faculty-led group in the early 1980s when the Wells School of Music built out its jazz curriculum.
"This anniversary is about not only celebrating where we've been, but it's also about looking ahead … We want to bring that community back together, honor the legacy they created, and help ensure that this tradition continues for the next 100 years," Jonathan Ragonese, director of Jazz Studies at West Chester University, said in the university's Sept. 24 announcement.
The weekend's headliner is vibraphonist Stefon Harris, a four-time Grammy nominee recognized multiple times in the DownBeat Critics Poll. Harris will lead a free public masterclass on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. in the Philips Autograph Library inside Philips Memorial Building. He then joins an all-star alumni band and the current Criterions for Sunday's closing concert.
That Sunday program, set for 3 p.m. in Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall, will feature world premieres of works commissioned for the centennial. Saxophonist Bob Mintzer, a Grammy winner for his big band album "Homage to Count Basie," and pianist Orrin Evans, a three-time Grammy-nominated Philadelphia-area musician and 2010 Pew Fellow, each wrote new pieces for the occasion.
Friday's free welcome concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in Asplundh Concert Hall, with professors Mark Allen and Jonathan Ragonese leading the Criterions Jazz Ensemble and the Statesmen as jazz alumni return to campus.
Saturday evening brings "A Dance Soirée: Celebrating 100 Years of Jazz," a ticketed dinner-and-drinks event from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the WCU Science and Engineering Building Ballroom. An alumni dance band and the current Criterions will perform Big Band Era music. Tickets are $100 and require advance RSVP through the West Chester University Foundation.
The celebration also serves as the launch of a fundraising campaign. The "100 Years of Jazz" drive, run through the West Chester University Foundation, aims to create a permanent endowment for the jazz program, as MyChesCo reported. No dollar goal has been announced.
Upcoming events:
- Friday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.: Welcome Concert (free), Asplundh Concert Hall, 700 S. High St.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 2 p.m.: Stefon Harris Masterclass (free), Philips Autograph Library, Philips Memorial Building
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 6:30 p.m.: Dance Soirée ($100, RSVP required through WCU Foundation), WCU Science and Engineering Building Ballroom
- Sunday, Nov. 8, 3 p.m.: Centennial Concert (ticketed; purchase at wcupatix.com), Asplundh Concert Hall
