Concord students were able to get an early experience of Halloween from the fourth annual Spooktacular.
Photo By Anastasiia Vorobeva
Last Friday, Oct. 20, Concord students got an early opportunity to experience a Halloween atmosphere as the music department hosted the annual Spooktacular event with a concert, a costume competition, and haunted halls.
“It is not just about the music, it is also the spectacle of the event,” said David Ball, Director of Bands, assistant professor of music, and the event organizer. “A lot of times universities do collage concerts, and this is exactly what it is – one group of performers after another. [Usually] it is a kind of stuffy, cause it is very formal, and I think this [Spooktacular] is our take.”
Performers at the concert included Dr. Kipp Cortez, faculty member at Concord University, the school Marching Band with David Ball conductor, Margaret Jusiel, adjunct professor of music, and Dr. Tim Mainland, professor of music, and the ConChords under the direction of Dr. Kelly Hudson, among others.
In the middle of the concert, the costume competition took place.
“I think the costumes are a really big draw – people like to have somewhere to wear the costumes, and why not do it on the college campus?” said Lindsey Akers, faculty member at Concord, who supervised the promotion of the event and helped run it. “It definitely provides entertainment for the campus and for the students to give them something to do on a Friday night and I do believe it is a draw.”
After the concert, the audience experienced a haunted hall built by music students on the ground floor of the Alexander Fine Arts Center. Small groups walked through the dark corridors filled with students dressed as clowns jumping out at them from draped corners.
This is the fourth time Concord’s music department hosted the event, giving students, staff, and the community a chance to showcase their work and raise funds for the department. Altogether, the music department raised nearly $300.
“It is a good fundraising for the department because state funding was cut and now every small college all over the country is hurting. Every little bit helps,” said Margaret Jusiel.
The money will go to the foundation account for the music department, says Ball. “We use it if we need to bring in a guest artist or a speaker. Whatever we need it for. It is like a savings account for us to do extra things.”
“It is something we do every year, so we got it down. We vary up it a little bit of course, but it is something we are always looking forward to doing,” said Ball.
“It is a particularly fun event, it is relaxed. Students are having a good time because they are not micromanaged. It is a nice way for a community and the college to come together,” said Jusiel.