The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Symphony Orchestra will have their annual Halloween Concert on Oct. 29. The concert included guest appearances by dancers from The Ballet Studio and North Vermilion High School Women’s Chorale.
The Symphony will perform five pieces. The first will be “How to Train Your Dragon: Test Drive” by John Powell accompanied by dancers. Following is “Slavonic March” by Pyotr Hyich Tchaikovsky. Next, “Saturn” from The Planets by Gustav Holt accompanied by dancers.
Then, “Preludio” and “Che faceste? Dit su,” two selections from the opera “Macbeth”, by Giuseppe Verdi, accompanied by the North Vermillion High School Women’s Chorale. Following, they will perform the theme from Beetlejuice by Danny Elfman, accompanied by dancers. Finally, “Jupiter” from The Planets by Gustav Holst with an image presentation by Robin Stevenson.
Prior to the actual performance, some of the performers expressed their thoughts on this year’s Halloween Concert. Amaris Milano, a junior majoring in music media, plays the viola for the symphony. As a veteran of the concert, Milano said it is one of her favorite concerts during the year.
“I really like it. It is one of my favorite concerts of the year, because all the music we play is super fun, everyone dresses up, even the audience. It is always so fun to see. It is very fun, lighthearted and comfortable.”
Evelynne Bowles, a freshman majoring in music education, plays bass for the symphony. When asked what her favorite piece from the performance so far was, Bowles said “Probably ‘Saturn’ because there are a couple of bass solos in there. A lot of it, especially at the end, has this very warm sound that I like playing a lot.”
Michael Blaney, the conductor of the UL Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, brought the Halloween Concert tradition to the university in 1996 during his first year teaching.
He was motivated to start the tradition to get more students involved with the orchestra.
“At that time, there were not very many students involved with the orchestra. I thought the Halloween concert would be really fun that would hopefully attract students to be part of this performance…be part of the group, as well as the audience. It was a hit right from the start; we’ve had really huge audiences show up every year.”
When choosing music for the concert, Blaney likes to use a mix of pieces that are either closely or loosly associated with Halloween.
He also likes to use student input because they suggest music that he wouldn’t have thought of.
As far as the selections for this year’s concert, Blaney couldn’t pick a favorite. “I like all of them. I like all of the pieces we are playing. I’m gonna not pick a favorite. […] I think they are really contrasting,” Blaney said.
When asked what he would be dressed up as for the concert, Blaney decided to keep it a secret. “People have to wait and see. I always keep that under wraps. Sometimes, I show up and the orchestra members don’t even realize it is me when I walk in,” Blaney said.
Similar to his favorite piece from the concert, Blaney expressed that he believes the audience will also enjoy all of the music equally.
“I think they are going to like all of it. I really do. Some pieces, musically, they are going to really be drawn to.”
The next performance by the UL Lafayette Symphony Orchestra will be on Nov. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Angelle Hall.
Donations for the School of Music and Performing Arts at UL Lafayette can be given by filling out UL Lafayette Foundation’s donation form and making note that the donation be directed to the School of Music and Performing Arts.