The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music is hosting Concert Band: Spooktacular on the Long Beach State campus on Oct. 21 Rehansa Kulatilleke| Long Beach Current
With Halloween just around the corner, the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music Concert Band and the Hughes Middle School Wind Ensemble will fill Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall with spooky tunes for the conservatory’s annual Spooktacular show.
The show will be held on Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
CSULB students must show ID at the door to receive the discounted ticket price of $8.75, which is also available for children ages eight and under. $23.75 is the price for non-students and $13.75 for seniors.
Children aged 13 and under who arrive in costume receive free admission; however, all audience members are encouraged to come in costume for a night of spooky fun.
Associate Director of Bands Adam Friedrich is overseeing and MC’ing the show.
“We’re just trying to make it a fun event so that everybody gets to participate in the Halloween spirit,” Friedrich said.
The concert band – which can be best understood as an “orchestra without strings,” according to Friedrich, will include wind band instruments such as flutes, saxophones, trumpets and tubas as well as percussion instruments like cymbals and snare drum.
Graduate students David Blackinton, Matthew Garza, Benjamin Maley, Jennifer Sosa and Josue Valle will conduct the concert band.
The Hughes Middle School Wind Ensemble will take the stage first, performing pieces like the eerie yet lighthearted “Skeleton Crawl” and music from “Wicked.”
Following intermission, the concert band will first perform “Night Dances.” The piece’s sounds simultaneously evoke a “shrouded nighttime evening walk” and vibrant flashes of color, Friedrich said.
More spooky-themed titles set to be performed by the concert band include “Cycle of the Werewolves,” with “Nightmare Before Christmas” concluding the show.
In collaborating with local ensembles like the Hughes Middle School Wind Ensemble, the conservatory aims to “give back” to the wider community by bringing performance opportunities to local, young students with an interest in music.
Friedrich is looking forward to seeing music students of all levels do their first performance of the year.
“That’s the exciting part for me, it’s just to witness the growth and the progression from August to now, and then finally getting the opportunity for them to showcase their growth and their talents,” Friedrich said.