‘Spooktacular’ trunk-or-treat event and concert coming to LCCC

CHEYENNE, Wyoming – An afternoon of seasonal family-oriented entertainment is slated for Oct. 30 at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne with a Trunk-or-Treat event and The Return of the Thing that Goes Bump in the Night concert. Both events are free and open to the public. 

The trunk-or-treat event at 2 p.m. will take place in parking lot A, near the Surbrugg/Prentice Auditorium. It will feature more than just candy, as attendees can participate in activities such as coloring contests, pumpkin carving and cornhole. Costumes are encouraged.  

The concert of Halloween-themed music at 3 p.m. in the Surbrugg/Prentice Auditorium is the return of a musical tradition at LCCC that will feature the wind ensemble, choir, chamber orchestra and a special handbell performance by a guest artist. 

“I don’t want to give more away (about the guest artist), because it’s going to be ‘spooktacular,’” said Dr. Frank Cook, LCCC music instructor and ensemble director. 

The wind ensemble will perform a medley called “House of Horrors” featuring recognizable classical music with spooky themes, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” Charles Gounod’s “Funeral March for a Marionette,” Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and Frédéric Chopin’s “Funeral March.” Additionally, the ensemble will perform Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s “Huntingtower Ballad,” a frightening tale about a haunted castle in Scotland.     

“There’s some grandiose elements, because Respighi wrote really big pieces, but there’s a lot of undercurrent of Scottish folk music,” Cook said. “It’s a pretty neat piece.” 

The chamber orchestra’s performance will include “The Suite” by Bernard Herrmann from the soundtrack of Alfred Hitchcock’s spine-chilling classic “Psycho” and “Danse Macabre” by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, which depicts a grim reaper-esqe character playing violin and walking the dead out of their graves.    

Finally, the choir’s performance will include “The Lover's Ghost,” a haunting choral work by Oliver Tarney, inspired from folklore about a sailor's spirit returning to his betrothed after dying at sea. “Ronde,” from “Trois Chansons,” a composition by Maurice Ravel, will also be included. 

“This song has an unstable tonal center and anxious tempo that matches its eerie text, listing nearly every monster known to man,” said Beth Smith-Jacobs, LCCC choir instructor. “'Trois Chansons' is a staple in advanced chorale literature and the students have been working hard to prepare it for this concert."

For more information on the events and LCCC’s music programs, contact Dr. Frank Cook at fcookFREELARAMIE or 307.778.1306.