Elgin Symphony to present ‘Halloween Spooktacular’
The Elgin Symphony Orchestra will hold its “Halloween Spooktacular” Sunday, Oct. 28, at the Elgin Community College Blizzard Theater, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. It will be conducted by Randal Swiggum. There will be activities for kids at 2:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 3 p.m.
Hear the ESO play spooky favorites such as the “Adams Family Groove,” “The Noon Witch” and themes from “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter.” ESO musicians will be dressed in costumes and an ESO musicians’ costume contest will be held onstage during the concert.
All kids are welcome to come in costume. This annual event is fun for kids of all ages. Activities include spooky arts and crafts, a weird instrument petting zoo, and hands-on musical activities.
Tickets are $16 for adults and $8 for kids. Tickets are subject to a $5 per ticket processing fee. For tickets or information, call (847) 888-4000 or visit www.elginsymphony.org.
Randal Swiggum joined the ESO in the 2005-06 season as the education conductor. Swiggum works closely with the Education and Artistic Departments in designing, developing, administering and evaluating all education and community engagement programs offered by the ESO.
He is also responsible for conducting the annual Kidz Konzerts and Music in the Middle programs that take place each April. Swiggum is very active in music education enjoying a diverse teaching career that has spanned first grade general music, high school choir, college orchestra, music theory and conducting.
He is also the music director of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Upcoming: On Nov. 3-4, the ESO season continues with “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Hemmens, 45 Symphony Way in Elgin.
Painters who capture beauty, drama and tragedy with just a few strokes of a brush. Rafael Payare, fresh off his win in the 2012 Malko International Competition for Young Conductors, leads the ESO as it creates its own canvas of sound with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Tchaikovsky’s “Francesca da Rimini,” and the Illinois premier of Michael Daugherty’s tribute to Georgia O’Keefe, “Ghost Ranch.”
For tickets or information, call (847) 888-4000 or www.elginsymphony.org.
The ESO Listeners Club is a free interactive lecture/discussion series, which meets at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin. The series is led by Jim Kendros, a dynamic music historian, who will broaden your understanding of the music to be performed in the Classic Masterworks concerts.
You will learn the music from the inside out and even meet new friends. The Listeners Club meets the Wednesday before a “Classic Masterworks” concert from 1 to 3 p.m. The next program will be Wednesday, Oct. 31. Call to reserve your seat, (847) 888-0404, ext. 238.