Music, a costume contest and a variety of different programs are what audience members can expect during this year’s Fright Night concert 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Dan Crews, interim director of programming, publicity and promotions at the Doudna Fine Arts Center, said the event is Eastern’s Symphony Orchestra annual Halloween concert.

“Most of the music that is presented during the concert is all Halloween-oriented,” Crews said.

Crews said every year the orchestra invites a special guest to perform along with them, and this year it will be the fifth and sixth grade choir from Jefferson Elementary School.

“When the choir is performing with the Symphony Orchestra there will probably be about 200 people up on stage,” Crews said.

Crews said one part of the concert is a program called the Symphonic Honors Initiative Program (SHIP), where young musicians get to perform along professional and college-level musicians.

“It is a way for them to get actual experience performing in a professional setting, and this is kind of a SHIP reunion because those who were members as kids have been invited back,” Crews said.

Crews said Alicia Doudna, a professional musician who was a SHIP program member, will be another guest performer. 

Her grandfather was also a former president of Eastern.

“We have lots of EIU students, people from the community, alumni come back; it is a very popular concert,” Crews said.

Crews said one of the highlights of the event is while 15 minutes of “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone” will be shown, the orchestra will play the sound track.

Crews said there would also be a costume contest and a parade around the Dvorak Concert Hall.

“The costume contest will be judged and there are a lot of categories, scariest, most original, pretty and funniest, and there is a whole bunch more,” Crews said. “There’s usually 100 to 125 kids dressed up. It is a real fun Halloween program.”

Crews said the whole event lasts about 70 minutes.

The turnout for this event has always been high, and this year’s concert is almost sold out with less than 50 seats remaining.

“This is an event that sells out, and I always encourage people to get their tickets fast because we started selling back in July,” Crews said.

Ticket prices for the concert are $13 for general admission, $11 for seniors and $5 for students.

AJ Fournier can be reached at 581-2812 or ajfournier@eiu.edu.