The Southeastern Illinois College and Rend Lake College Concert Choirs are teaming up to bring the community a fang-tastic concert. Halloween Pops will be coming to the George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Center Lobby Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.
“This Halloween Pops concert is the first in what I hope will become a tradition here at SIC,” said SIC Music Instructor, Cory Garmane. “I, like many, love Halloween and the air of mystery that fills the air around this time of year. This time of year opens the door to many interesting and spook-tacular pieces of music that are more difficult to program at other times of the year. It’s rather difficult to sing a funeral dirge at a Christmas or spring concert.”
While planning the concert, Garmane wanted to present pieces from different genres and time periods of music.
“Death, ghosts, and spirits are universal subjects that transcend any era or genre,” said Garmane. “I knew I wanted to program a concert that pays homage to great composers, great texts and of course great music.”
Garmane casually mentioned this concert to Sara Alstat, Music Director for RLC, and she then mentioned a potential collaboration.
“She and I have wanted to do a combined concert for quite some time, but the timing never quite worked out,” said Garmane. “We were able to shuffle some things around and make this concert happen. She and I worked to get the final program settled and are excited to bring Halloween Pops to both the SIC and RLC campuses.”
The concerts will feature choral works from major composers like Mozart and Britten, but will also feature more contemporary works and some musical theatre medleys from “Phantom of the Opera” and “Sweeney Todd.”
“If the spirits so move, perhaps another thrilling number will be added,” teased Garmane. “We want this to be a fun evening for everyone. We’re going to be wearing costumes, and we invite every person in the audience to take part.”
Halloween Pops will also be performed Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. at Rend Lake College. For more information contact Cory Garmane at 618-252-5400 ext. 2235, email [email protected] or visit sic.edu/music.
