On the eve of Halloween, the Music Building was filled with families of critters, ghosts and ghouls as scarecrows, monsters and ageless hippies performed for the families of DeKalb.
To celebrate the end of the spooky season, the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra performed their annual Halloween concert at 5:30 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall. This concert was aimed toward DeKalb families and members of the community.
The Concert Hall had undergone a spooky makeover with spiders, spectres and skeletons hanging off the walls and the balcony. The stage itself was adorned with a row of pumpkin candy baskets and black cauldrons sitting at the front and center of the stage.
As the audience slowly filed into the hall with some in costumes, the lights slowly dimmed and an announcer walked onstage to greet the guests.
Opening with a spine-chilling laugh, the MC slowly began to call up the various sections of the orchestra but with a twist. Each section was sporting their own costumes.
The themes called by order were monsters, ageless hippies, deceased rockstars, pirates, farm animals, characters from “Lord of the Rings,” wild west cowboys and cowgirls, scarecrows, agents from “Men In Black” and literal soda pops.
Guest Conductor Kirk Lundbeck also joined in the costumed shenanigans dressed as a gorilla and briefly interacted with the kids and families before being lured onstage by one of the musicians holding an actual banana.
Scott Riebe, a resident of DeKalb, enjoyed watching each section be called to the stage with their special theme music complementing the costumes.
“I loved it. I thought it was really creative,” Riebe said. “I loved that each section was called and had their own themed costumes.”
Once all of the symphony’s sections had been called, they launched into songs from various films, some being from popular horror, others from Disney.
The songs played during the concert were “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” a concert suite from “Batman: The Dark Knight,” a collection of songs from Disney’s “Frozen,” the main theme from “Halloween,” “We don’t talk about Bruno” from “Encanto,” “Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space” and the original main theme of “Ghostbusters.” “The Iron Foundry, Op. 12” was played during the second concert.
Brian Jackson, a resident of DeKalb, enjoyed the performance from and heard a few favorites during the performance.
“I’m a huge Disney fan, so I’m pretty biased,” Jackson said. “I loved We Don’t Talk About Bruno from ‘Encanto.’”
Heather Jackson, a resident of DeKalb, found the theme of “Halloween” to be her favorite song from the performance.
“I definitely loved that theme from ‘Halloween,’” Jackson said. “It takes a spooky turn and is super creepy.”
The first and second Halloween Concert can be viewed on the NIU School of Music YouTube channel.
