On Dec. 9, Darilyn Manring lost her long battle with cancer. She was born Aug. 14, 1953, in Nebraska City, Nebraska to a father who was a choral conductor and a mother who was a clerical assistant. She completed high school and a college degree in cello performance in Illinois before being admitted to Yale School of Music at age 20 as a graduate assistant of Aldo Parisot. She was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance from Boston University in 1999, writing a dissertation on Latin American women composers for cello.

Manring’s concert career took her to Russia, Europe, Cuba, South America and throughout the United States. She recorded for Phonodisc in Brazil.  She held academic positions in Wyoming, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania while continuing to perform on the East Coast. Locally, she taught at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Westport School of Music, Choate Rosemary Hall, Hopkins School, Hotchkiss School, University of Bridgeport, Sacred Heart University and most recently at Western Connecticut State University. She was a part-time orchestra teacher in the Wilton Public Schools beginning in 2002 and served as a lower strings coach for Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras (now Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras) for more than 15 years.

She performed with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony for 42 seasons, serving as Principal Soloist after 1982.  She was also Principal Cellist with Wallingford, Waterbury and Norwalk symphonies and made many other concert appearances in New England.

Besides her musical career, Manring was an avid student and teacher in the field of holistic health. She taught spiritual leadership courses through the Americana Leadership College after 1978 and was a reiki master and an ordained priest in the Order of Melkezadek.  She is survived by her sister, Lesley Manring; her aunt, Jean L. Hager; her nephew, Anton Borchers; her great-nephew, Cristian Borchers; her great-niece, Isabella Trevino; and her great-nephew, Ethan Trevino.

A memorial service is planned for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, at Trackside Teen Center (15 Station Rd.).

Memorials in lieu of flowers should be made to the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras, PO Box 645, Fairfield, CT 06824. Donations may also be made online.