The lights dim. Flying bats, black cauldrons and sinister mummies frame the darkening stage. The back of the auditorium is awash with an eerie red glow, the color shifting as the performers take their places in front of the stage. Dressed in all-black gowns, the Dolcissima girls choir faces the audience, some donning witch hats, others wearing skeletal makeup. Together, they take a breath and a soft minor chord rings out, opening the Fright Night concert.

This year’s annual fall concert for choir and band, themed “Fright Night,” was a musical adventure into the world of Halloween. On the evening of Oct. 24, the choirs, symphonic band and wind ensemble performed a repertoire of spooky pieces for their first concert of the year, captivating their audience with the spirit of the fall holiday. During the intermission, the colorguard team sold an assortment of festive homemade and store-bought baked goods to fundraise for the Lynbrook music program.

For many band and choir students, the fall concert is their first performance of the season. While the marching band performs frequently at games and tournaments, the symphonic band, wind ensemble and choirs have fewer opportunities to showcase their talents, making their time in the spotlight even more meaningful.

“We want to give the band students who aren’t in marching band their chance to perform,” said instrumental music director Michael Pakaluk. “So, we always have a mid-October concert. We try to mix up the themes year to year so it stays interesting.”

Because the theme was less formal and more whimsical than those of other concerts, Pakaluk and vocal music director Crystal Isola had the liberty of choosing pieces from a diverse range of musical genres. From classic ghostly choral arrangements to even modern pop tunes, all of the songs shared some connection to the spirit of Halloween.

The boys’ choir’s rendition of “Gone, Gone, Gone” held undertones of dark humor, as the choir serenaded a plastic skeleton with the words, “I’ll love you long after you’re gone.” The combined boys’ choir lightened the mood with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” featuring two soloists, sophomore Austin Huang and junior Gaurav Rajan. During the second half of the concert, the girls’ choir even danced as they sang Fifth Harmony’s hit song “I’m in Love with a Monster.”

“I feel like [Fright Night] is relatable to the audience,” said junior and girls choir member Anna Chiang. “People who don’t know much about music can still watch the performance and feel welcome. Everyone enjoys the Halloween vibe, which makes the concert more fun for us and for the listeners.”

Several band and choir members felt that the concert provided a unique experience for the performers to express themselves in their presentation.

“I thought it was a fun experience because of the spooky theme,” said senior and wind ensemble member Jay Tong. “We were all able to dress up in costumes instead of our normal concert attire. There were witches, saints and all kinds of quirky characters on stage.”

The last notes of the final piece, “Nausicaa Requiem,” marked the end of a night filled with song, dance and celebration. As members of the wind ensemble took their bows and Pakaluk, dressed as a hooded samurai in black and red, bade the audience good night, the performers and all in attendance left the event ready to embrace the spirit of Halloween.