Spring Break
Student featured in historical music concert
Derek Maninfior wins open competition, gets chance to perform
Joe Astrouski / City Editor
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: News
When Derek Maninfior began taking piano lessons at age four, he had only been walking upright for a few years.
But Sunday, as the last notes of Maninfior's piano performance rang through the Dvorak Concert Hall in Doudna Fine Arts Center, the audience jumped to its feet in a standing ovation.
Maninfior, a freshman piano performance major and Mattoon native, was performing as part of the Eastern Symphony Orchestra's "Musical Journey Through Time" concert.
"It was the highlight of my year," Maninfior said of the concert.
He won the chance to perform at the concert through the Eastern music department's annual Concerto Competition, a music contest open to singers and instrumental musicians.
The concert included musical selections from different historical periods of music.
It opened with several pieces of medieval music, performed by Eastern's Collegium Musicum, a musical group designed to perform music written before 1750.
The concert, which also included performances by the Eastern Symphony Orchestra, concert choir and university mixed chorus, included performances from the Renaissance, the Baroque Era, Classical Era, Romantic Era and the 20th century.
The concert ended with the Eastern Symphony Orchestra performing a tribute to Rhonda Heath, the music department's administrative aide, who died on January 8.
"Rhonda was so very much more than just a staff member," Parker Melvin, the music department chair, said in a written note. "Her greatest quality was how much she cared, and there is no one for whom she cared more than the students."
Eastern's choral ensembles will hold its final performance of the year at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Dvorak Concert Hall in Doudna.
Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.
But Sunday, as the last notes of Maninfior's piano performance rang through the Dvorak Concert Hall in Doudna Fine Arts Center, the audience jumped to its feet in a standing ovation.
Maninfior, a freshman piano performance major and Mattoon native, was performing as part of the Eastern Symphony Orchestra's "Musical Journey Through Time" concert.
"It was the highlight of my year," Maninfior said of the concert.
He won the chance to perform at the concert through the Eastern music department's annual Concerto Competition, a music contest open to singers and instrumental musicians.
The concert included musical selections from different historical periods of music.
It opened with several pieces of medieval music, performed by Eastern's Collegium Musicum, a musical group designed to perform music written before 1750.
The concert, which also included performances by the Eastern Symphony Orchestra, concert choir and university mixed chorus, included performances from the Renaissance, the Baroque Era, Classical Era, Romantic Era and the 20th century.
The concert ended with the Eastern Symphony Orchestra performing a tribute to Rhonda Heath, the music department's administrative aide, who died on January 8.
"Rhonda was so very much more than just a staff member," Parker Melvin, the music department chair, said in a written note. "Her greatest quality was how much she cared, and there is no one for whom she cared more than the students."
Eastern's choral ensembles will hold its final performance of the year at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Dvorak Concert Hall in Doudna.
Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.
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