The Claremont Concert Orchestra presents a Halloween concert on Saturday, October 30, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 31, at 3:00 p.m. at the Bridges Hall of Music on 4th and College Avenues, Pomona College. The Claremont Concert Orchestra, conducted by Michael Deane Lamkin, vice president and dean of the faculty at Scripps College, is a select, auditioned performance ensemble of the Joint Music Program of Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges. Admission is free and open to the public. Canned food donations may be made at the door for the West End Hunger Program.
Featuring music by Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz, the concert theme follows the "Dies irae" (day of wrath) plainchant, or plainsong melody used in the requiem mass in the Middle Ages. The first piece, Liszt’s Totentanz, will be performed by piano soloist Jonathan Lee of Harvey Mudd College and is a set of virtuoso variations on the theme of the Dies irae. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, the second piece on the program, was an inspiration for the writing of the Totentanz, as the two composers were acquainted. The symphony is a story of a young man’s unrequited love and his series of dreams involving his lady. The symphony’s five movements are: "Reveries/Passions," "A Ball," "In the Country," "Procession to the Scaffold," and "A Witches Sabbath."