This Saturday, April 21, at 8 p.m. in DeBaun Auditorium is the Stevens Orchestra Spring Concert. It is also a time to reflect on a semester of hard work and music, as well as fond memories and friendship. Some of the graduating seniors this semester are Moenika Chowdhury, Louis Di Bonaventura, Sal Finocchiaro, and Caitlynn Reilly. These Stars of Stevens have bright futures ahead of them. Congratulations!
Moenika Chowdhury, a Music and Technology and Computer Science double major, plays the flute in the orchestra. She has been involved all four years at Stevens. She recounted, “Through the years, we’ve been through many conductors, and I find that Larry [the current conductor] has such a passion for our school and talent that it inspires me to be a better musician every day.” After graduation, Moenika plans on going to grad school.
Louis Di Bonaventura has been playing cello since the third grade — that is fifteen years total, and six of those years have been at Stevens. In addition to being passionate about music, Louis is also a Mechanical Engineering major. Louis remembers a fond memory when he was buying his cello. He says, “The shop owner offered me one to play, which I did for a bit and handed it back, saying it sounded nice. Then he told me it was worth $500,000.” Other memories include many great rehearsals with Larry (our conductor) and the Stevens Orchestra. After graduation, Louis will be working at UPS as an Industrial Engineering Supervisor.
Sal Finocchiaro has accomplished a lot in music during his time at Stevens. He has been the concertmaster and leader of the orchestra for the past year and has been a critical part of the Stevens String Ensemble. Other fun memories include playing piano for the first time on stage during the 2017 String Ensemble Holiday Concert, arranging “Cartoon Classics,” which was performed for the Summer Strings Spectacular, and performing the Bach “Double Violin Concerto in D minor” with Mia. Sal is majoring in Biomedical Engineering and plans on looking for a job in industry (BME, Electrical Engineering, etc…) but does not want to work right away. He explains, “In the interim, I plan on writing lots of music to make up for lost time and improving my violin skills. I want to learn how to play some sick tunes,” which include Paganini’s caprices and Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky concertos.
Caitlynn Reilly is a Chemical Engineering major and has played viola for 11 years, four of which have been at Stevens. Caitlynn remembers buying her viola from Atlanta Violins and walking into a room filled with violists and violinists that were older than her. Not long afterward, she was playing her first concert, and soon she will be playing her last concert at Stevens. After graduation, Caitlynn will be working full-time at Pratt and Whitney.
Be First to Comment