Music Genius in the Making … Local 13-year-old prodigy’s rescheduled performance with Del Mar College’s Corpus Christi Chamber Orchestra set for this Sunday, Feb. 18
Free concert in Richardson Performance Hall to premiere composer, pianist Haleigh Arden O’Neill’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Article by Melinda Eddleman
She started her musical journey with a portable keyboard in mid-summer 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, advancing quickly with the ability to play anything she wanted. In May 2021, she had her first piano lesson at age 10 and by summer 2022 composed her first Piano Sonata.
Now 13-years-old and hoping to compose scores for film and television one day, Haleigh Arden O’Neill performed last month during an invitational music festival in Kaufbeuren, Germany.
This Sunday, Feb. 18, the young composer and pianist will play with the Del Mar College (DMC) Music Department’s Corpus Christi Chamber Orchestra during a rescheduled concert and will premiere her new piece, Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor. The free performance begins at 4 p.m. in Richardson Performance Hall on the Heritage Campus located at 101 Baldwin Blvd. (78404). Get online directions and campus map.
The Corpus Christi Chamber Orchestra at Del Mar College, which includes the talent of both music students and community members, will also perform a program featuring W.A. Mozart’s Symphony #41, K.551 “Jupiter” as well as the Poet and Peasant Overture by Franz Von Suppe in addition to O’Neill’s piece.
For more information, contact DMC Music faculty member R. Todd Ehle at 361-698-1223 or tehle@delmar.edu.
Regarding the young prodigy … after a few lessons with Dr. Will Bailey at The Piano Gallery on South Padre Island Drive, O’Neill was recommended to Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) Professor of Piano Dr. Joachim Reinhuber, who agreed to see her once a month while she took lessons from one of his students. She was only 10-years-old at that time. And since fall 2022, O’Neill now studies piano exclusively with Dr. Reinhuber as well as composition with Dr. James Wilding, a Professor of Theory and Composition at The University of Akron in Ohio.
O’Neill has performed several times, including recitals at TAMUK, a recital for the Corpus Christi Music Teachers Association and during the College Student Recital held as part of Piano Celebration Week 2023 at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s Performing Arts Center. She is a member of the Corpus Christi Area Youth Orchestra and has composed multiple symphonies, piano concertos, pieces for smaller ensembles and solo piano works.
This Sunday, you can hear her postponed premiere piece at Del Mar College.
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.