Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News

Performers of both the ESO Chamber Players and EIU Concert Choir open a concert Sunday Afternoon that featured a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. (Bryce Peake | Daily Eastern News)

Students from Eastern were not the only ones treated with a performance from their professors - Eastern conductor Richard Rossi was graced by a visit from his own professor.

The Eastern Symphony Chamber Orchestra, led by conductor Richard Rossi, performed Antonia Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Wesley United Methodist Church.

The symphony produced the concert with the musical aid of concertmaster Maureen Murchie, Charlotte Mattax, and Eastern's Concert Choir.

Mattax was Rossi's professor when he attended the University of Illinois as a student. In his concert introduction, he described her as not only a wonderful musician but also a wonderful person.

Mattax brought a new aspect of music to the performance with her skills as a harpsichord player.

Rossi, a harpsichord performer himself, said the Department of Music will eventually have their own French double harpsichord.

The harpsichord, which will be finished by January 2009, is being built in the French 18th-century style.

Mattax said she chose to play some French-style selections in honor of the harpsichord being built for the department.

Jessica Leathers, a senior biology and chemistry major, said she attended the concert because she knows a lot of people in the orchestra and enjoys watching them perform.

She said she didn't know the choir and the guest harpsichord player would be in the concert, but she was very excited to hear a different performance with them.

Leathers said the orchestra has never featured a guest artist playing the harpsichord, but she was glad to hear the different sound.

She said she likes when the concerts incorporate outside groups to add a different sound to the concert.

Leathers said she has been involved in the marching band and concert bands at Eastern playing the flute.

Jenna Jungels, a freshman elementary education major, cheered on her professor, Murchie, as Murchie played the violin during a performance of "The Four Seasons."

Murchie encouraged students her "Interacting With Music" class to go to the concert because they were studying "The Four Seasons." Murchie wanted them to experience the concert themselves, Jungles said.

The Concert Choir began the day performing selections it is preparing for an upcoming concert.

Mike Boline, a sophomore geography major, said he attended the concert because he has some friends who are a part of the music department.

Boline said he goes to about half of his friends' concerts to show support for them.



Sara Cuadrado can be reached at 581-7942 or at slcuadrado@eiu.edu.

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