New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), conjures a new bewitching “Halloween Spooktakular” performance, including classic musical treats and ghoulishly fun costumes, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23.
“Following the extraordinary response to our ‘Halloween Spooktakular’ last year, we knew we wanted to capture the festive spirit again with another homage to classic thriller and horror films,” said New Philharmonic conductor and music director Kirk Muspratt. “We plan on recreating the magical heart-pumping tone of these great films and having our own monster mash as everyone gears up for Halloween. ‘Haunting Classics’ will raise the bar of intensity and freight from last year with beguiling renditions of familiar soundtracks that we hope will leave the audience spellbound.”
Under the hauntingly beautiful direction of Maestro Muspratt, the Halloween-costumed musicians of New Philharmonic will enchant the MAC with its musical program featuring:
• J.S. Bach and Leopold Stokowski’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” BWV 565 with organ, popularized as the premiere musical representation for horror and villainy with its early uses in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “The Black Cat” and later uses in Disney’s “Fantasia” and the film adaptation of “Phantom of the Opera;”
• Hector Berlioz’s “March to the Scaffold” from “Symphonie Fantastique,” which American composer Leonard Bernstein described as the first musical expedition into psychedelia due to its dreamy and hallucinatory movements and history;
• Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” best known for its appearance in the film “Apocalypse Now;”
• Selections from Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld,” a comic operetta that brings audiences to the Greek Underworld.
Audience members are welcome to wear their own spooky costumes while enjoying the magic of New Philharmonic’s latest brew of family-friendly holiday fun. The program will also include music from popular films, including “Back to the Future,” “Spellbound,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
Tickets
New Philharmonic presents “Halloween Spooktakular – Haunting Classics” at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23. Tickets are $53. A limited number of $10 tickets are available for students. For more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call the MAC box office at 630.942.4000, Tuesday – Saturday, 12 noon – 6 p.m. and three hours prior to performance.
About New Philharmonic
New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra based in DuPage County, Ill., has inspired classical music enthusiasts in Chicago and the suburbs for more than four decades. It continues to thrive with the goal to give innovative treatment to both classic compositions and modern works while striving to make the music accessible to new audiences and youth through a variety of educational efforts. Today, under the direction of Kirk Muspratt, named 2018 Conductor of the Year (Professional Orchestra) by Illinois Council of Orchestras, New Philharmonic consists of more than 60 professional musicians and typically performs more than a dozen concerts a year, reaching more than 7,500 from the greater Chicago area annually. New Philharmonic was recently honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year.
The 2022-2023 New Philharmonic Season is presented through the generosity of Bjarne R. Ullsvik.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355 at 425 Fawell Blvd. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), an outdoor venue, the Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 2 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org and @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by College of DuPage Foundation, the DuPage Foundation, Follett, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, STG Divorce Law and Brookdale. Hotel sponsor is the DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville; Radio sponsor is WDCB 90.9 FM.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.