EIU Media Relations

Musical Selections from Elizabethan Times to Start Off Week's Events

Visitors to Eastern Illinois University will have the opportunity to hear the same music which once sounded on the ears of 16th-century royalty as Booth Library continues its celebration of Queen Elizabeth I.

Eastern's Saxophone Quartet will perform several selections from four different composers, beginning at 1 p.m. Monday, March 29, in the library's Marvin Foyer. Pieces are to include "Fantazia I" and "Fantazia II" by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), "April is in my Mistress' Face" by Thomas Morley (1557-1603), "Pavan VI" by Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656) and "This Sweet and Merry Month" by William Byrd (1543-1623).

Performers, under the direction of Sam Fagaly, will include Eric Combs, a senior from Olney, soprano saxophone; Bryan Chesi, a junior from Lombard , alto saxophone; Dustin Maninfior, a freshman from Mattoon , tenor saxophone; and Tony Wong, a freshman from Bradley, baritone saxophone.

Other celebratory events set for later in the week include a showing of "The Lion's Club," episode I of Elizabeth R , set to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, in the Library Conference Room (room 4440).

( Elizabeth R , based on six plays, is an Emmy Award-winning BBC miniseries starring Glenda Jackson.)

Karla Kennedy-Hagan, EIU professor of family and consumer sciences and coordinator of the department's dietetic internship program, will conclude the week's activities with a lecture, "Food, Drink and Health in Old England." Set to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, this activity, too, will take place in the Library Conference Room (room 4440).

Kennedy-Hagan will discuss the differences between health and nutrition as they were known in Elizabethan days and what is known today. How did the people of the 1600s survive without the things taken for granted today -- electricity, pasteurization and modern medicine? What were the staples in their diet and how did they access food? Were they healthy? What did they do when they were ill?

Admission to all three events - the concert, the film and the lecture - are free and open to the public.

Additional events related to Queen Elizabeth's life and reign will take place throughout early April. See http://www.eiu.edu/booth/elizabeth/ for complete details.