EIU Ensembles to Celebrate Holidays with Handel's 'Messiah'
Nov-23-2009The Eastern Symphony Chamber Orchestra, EIU Concert Choir and Collegium Musicum will celebrate the holiday season with their presentation of Handel's "Messiah" and its famed Hallelujah chorus.
The concert will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, in the Doudna Fine Arts Center's Dvorak Concert Hall on the Eastern Illinois University campus.
Two faculty guest artists will be featured in the performance: baritone Jay Ivey, and Mark DeGoti on piccolo trumpet.
Ivey, who is new to the EIU faculty, is an award-winning vocalist. He has performed in many productions with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, most recently playing the role of British Ambassador in the world premiere of the new performing edition of "The Ghosts of Versailles" by John Corigliano.
DeGoti has maintained an active performing career since joining the EIU music faculty in 2005. He plays with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, Peoria Symphony and the EIU Faculty Brass Quintet.
The concert is sponsored in part by the Charleston Area Charitable Foundation.
Tickets -- $12 for the general public, $10 for senior citizens and EIU employees, and $5 for students -- may be purchased in the Doudna Fine Arts Center box office (217-581-3110) from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or one hour before each performance. Tickets may also be reserved via e-mail at doudnatix@eiu.edu.
The Doudna Fine Arts Center, a division of EIU's College of Arts and Humanities, is located one block west of Ninth Street at Garfield Avenue in Charleston.
For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.eiu.edu/doudna.
