Matthew Henegan with his new cello and his teacher, Cynthia Longley.
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Matthew Henegan, a Columbia High School student, has been studying cello since elementary school. And his music journey advanced Jan. 8 at a concert at Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan when Father Alphonse Stephenson, conductor of the Orchestra of St. Peter By the Sea and founder of the Cecelia Foundation, surprised Henegan with a new $11,000 cello.
“Having this instrument will allow him to go forward in his music career with an instrument that matches his ambitions,” accomplished cellist Cynthia Longley, Henegan’s cello teacher for the past two years, said in a press release. “He is one of my most serious and focused students.”
In addition to being the principal cellist of the Ravina Youth Orchestra, Henegan has played with the Youth Orchestras of Essex County and has auditioned successfully and played with the Northern NJ Regional orchestras. Currently a senior at Columbia High School in Maplewood, Henegan is conducting the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings with his school Chamber Orchestra. For the past two summers, he attended the Brevard Summer Music Festival, and has recently been invited to audition at Oberlin and Montclair State.
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