Halloween Spooktacular - Catskill Symphony Orchestra
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The Halloween Spooktacular takes place at the Foothills Performing Arts Complex Theater. Doors open 60 minutes before curtain with cash bar. Candy will be handed out and costumes are requested!
Save 10% on tickets by purchasing online in advance! General Admission is $55 at the door. Students (school-age and college) always free and all parents, guardians, chaperones only $10, thanks to our Wendy Brown Student Ticket Program!
Join us for this one-of-a-kind concert, the second of the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s BOUNDLESS 73rd season, exploring the fun and mischievous side of the orchestra! Experience three centuries of spooky classics from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique up to modern favorites including Williams’ Harry Potter symphonic suite and Temperton’s “Thriller”--the music of the Michael Jackson classic.
The Evening’s Program:
Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre - Death tunes his fiddle at midnight and calls the skeletons from their graves to dance until dawn. A solo violin, twelve harp strokes of the midnight bell, and a rattling xylophone conjure one of the most vivid ghost stories ever set to music.
Williams: Symphonic Suite from Harry Potter - Music that opens with the shimmering celesta of “Hedwig’s Theme” and carries audiences straight into the wizarding world, performed by a full symphony orchestra.
Parker: Theme from Ghostbusters - The No. 1 hit and Oscar-nominated theme from the 1984 film. Who you gonna call? The CSO!
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath) - A young artist’s nightmare, in which he finds himself at his own funeral among ghouls and sorcerers. His beloved’s melody returns as a grotesque dance, and a funeral bell tolls as the witches whirl.
INTERMISSION
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain - A midsummer gathering of witches and spirits, inspired by a Gogol story and heard by millions in Disney’s Fantasia. Mussorgsky never heard it performed in his lifetime.
Elfman: The Nightmare Before Christmas - Music from Danny Elfman’s gleefully macabre score, in which Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, takes on Christmas. Elfman wrote the songs and score and sang the role of Jack.
Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King - A tiptoeing theme creeps in low and grows faster and louder as the trolls chase Peer Gynt, ending in a crash. Grieg himself could hardly bear to hear it. Audiences have loved it ever since.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (March to the Scaffold) - The artist dreams he has killed his beloved and is led to his execution. A march that is by turns grim and brilliant ends with a final thought of love, cut short by the fatal blow.
Temperton: “Thriller” - Rod Temperton’s title track for the best-selling studio album of all time, recreated in full by the orchestra with vocalist Devon Champen. Layered synthesizers, studio effects, and even Michael Jackson’s own howls built the original in the early 1980s. Our musicians bring all of it to life live.
FEATURED ARTISTS:
Glen Cortese, Artistic Director and Conductor, Catskill Symphony Orchestra
Devon Champen, vocalist - Oneonta native performing the fan favorites, including “Thriller”.
STUDENTS GET IN FREE!
Thanks to our Wendy Brown Student Ticket Fund, all school-age and college students experience this world-class performance at no cost. Companion tickets for parents/guardians just $10.
A unique concert:
This is the CSO’s first-ever Halloween concert, and it is a rare chance to hear Berlioz, Mussorgsky, and Saint-Saëns beside the film and pop music of Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Thriller, all on one stage. The program spans more than 170 years of music and draws on composers from France, Russia, Norway, England, and the United States, and it asks our orchestra to play in many styles in a single evening. Powerful classics, pop-culture favorites, and a room full of costumes make for an unforgettable Halloween night.
The Halloween Spooktacular is part of our 73rd season “BOUNDLESS” - celebrating the full range and potential of what an orchestra can be.
TICKETS:
Students (school-age & college): FREE
Adults: $50 advance / $55 door
Accompanying parents, guardians, and chaperones: $10
Purchase: https://givebutter.com/csospooktacular
VENUE: Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta, NY
DATE: Saturday, October 31, 2026
TIME: Doors 6:30 PM | Concert 7:30 PM
Costumes requested, candy provided, and a symphony orchestra ready to haunt the house. Join us for the CSO’s first-ever Halloween Spooktacular!
Save 10% on tickets by purchasing online in advance! General Admission is $55 at the door. Students (school-age and college) always free and all parents, guardians, chaperones only $10, thanks to our Wendy Brown Student Ticket Program!
Join us for this one-of-a-kind concert, the second of the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s BOUNDLESS 73rd season, exploring the fun and mischievous side of the orchestra! Experience three centuries of spooky classics from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique up to modern favorites including Williams’ Harry Potter symphonic suite and Temperton’s “Thriller”--the music of the Michael Jackson classic.
The Evening’s Program:
Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre - Death tunes his fiddle at midnight and calls the skeletons from their graves to dance until dawn. A solo violin, twelve harp strokes of the midnight bell, and a rattling xylophone conjure one of the most vivid ghost stories ever set to music.
Williams: Symphonic Suite from Harry Potter - Music that opens with the shimmering celesta of “Hedwig’s Theme” and carries audiences straight into the wizarding world, performed by a full symphony orchestra.
Parker: Theme from Ghostbusters - The No. 1 hit and Oscar-nominated theme from the 1984 film. Who you gonna call? The CSO!
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath) - A young artist’s nightmare, in which he finds himself at his own funeral among ghouls and sorcerers. His beloved’s melody returns as a grotesque dance, and a funeral bell tolls as the witches whirl.
INTERMISSION
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain - A midsummer gathering of witches and spirits, inspired by a Gogol story and heard by millions in Disney’s Fantasia. Mussorgsky never heard it performed in his lifetime.
Elfman: The Nightmare Before Christmas - Music from Danny Elfman’s gleefully macabre score, in which Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, takes on Christmas. Elfman wrote the songs and score and sang the role of Jack.
Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King - A tiptoeing theme creeps in low and grows faster and louder as the trolls chase Peer Gynt, ending in a crash. Grieg himself could hardly bear to hear it. Audiences have loved it ever since.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (March to the Scaffold) - The artist dreams he has killed his beloved and is led to his execution. A march that is by turns grim and brilliant ends with a final thought of love, cut short by the fatal blow.
Temperton: “Thriller” - Rod Temperton’s title track for the best-selling studio album of all time, recreated in full by the orchestra with vocalist Devon Champen. Layered synthesizers, studio effects, and even Michael Jackson’s own howls built the original in the early 1980s. Our musicians bring all of it to life live.
FEATURED ARTISTS:
Glen Cortese, Artistic Director and Conductor, Catskill Symphony Orchestra
Devon Champen, vocalist - Oneonta native performing the fan favorites, including “Thriller”.
STUDENTS GET IN FREE!
Thanks to our Wendy Brown Student Ticket Fund, all school-age and college students experience this world-class performance at no cost. Companion tickets for parents/guardians just $10.
A unique concert:
This is the CSO’s first-ever Halloween concert, and it is a rare chance to hear Berlioz, Mussorgsky, and Saint-Saëns beside the film and pop music of Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Thriller, all on one stage. The program spans more than 170 years of music and draws on composers from France, Russia, Norway, England, and the United States, and it asks our orchestra to play in many styles in a single evening. Powerful classics, pop-culture favorites, and a room full of costumes make for an unforgettable Halloween night.
The Halloween Spooktacular is part of our 73rd season “BOUNDLESS” - celebrating the full range and potential of what an orchestra can be.
TICKETS:
Students (school-age & college): FREE
Adults: $50 advance / $55 door
Accompanying parents, guardians, and chaperones: $10
Purchase: https://givebutter.com/csospooktacular
VENUE: Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta, NY
DATE: Saturday, October 31, 2026
TIME: Doors 6:30 PM | Concert 7:30 PM
Costumes requested, candy provided, and a symphony orchestra ready to haunt the house. Join us for the CSO’s first-ever Halloween Spooktacular!
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Where is it happening?
Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center, 24 Market St, Oneonta, NY 13820-2684, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherCatskill Symphony Orchestra
