CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Shryock Auditorium will come alive with the haunting melodies of classical composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonín Dvořák, Jehan Alain, and Maurice Duruflé, on Sunday, October 29, as it hosts a spine-tingling Halloween Extravaganza of music.
Presented by the Southern Illinois Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, this eerie concert is part of the SIU School of Music’s 2023-2024 performance series and is a chilling treat for music enthusiasts. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. and is free for the public to enjoy. Attendees are encouraged to don their Halloween costumes to enhance the spooky atmosphere.
The concert boasts a lineup that includes three SIU Carbondale faculty members and a cast of seven local organists, a piano duet, and a flute choir. The program features ten distinct musical numbers, promising an unforgettable night of musical enchantment.
James Reifinger Jr., an associate professor and music education coordinator in the School of Music, will bewitch the audience with his rendition of Duruflé’s “Prelude et Fugue sur le Nom d’Alain, Opus 7” on the Marianne Webb Pipe Organ. The concert also features the haunting melodies of Anne Chandler, an associate professor in the School of Literature, Writing, and Digital Humanities, and Dr. Kathryn Waldyke, assistant professor of Family and Community Medicine in the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. They will join forces as part of a seven-member Southern Illinois Flute Choir to perform masques composed by Anne McGinty, an American flutist, composer, and publisher.
Shryock Auditorium is home to the iconic Webb Pipe Organ, named in honor of Marianne Webb, who made significant contributions to the SIU Carbondale music faculty. Marianne Webb, who arrived at the university in 1965, was a prominent figure in the world of music, teaching organ and piano and serving as the university organist. She played a pivotal role in the initiation of the country’s first-ever annual organ festival within the School of Music. Her vision also led to the renovation of Shryock Auditorium, including the installation of a remarkable 3,312-pipe, 3-manual, 58-rank Reuter pipe organ, a creation she had a hand in designing. In 2001, in recognition of her enduring legacy, the organ was named after her. Even after her retirement in 2001, Marianne Webb continued to grace the campus as a visiting professor and distinguished university organist, leaving behind a remarkable musical legacy until her passing in 2013.
The Southern Illinois chapter of the American Guild of Organists proudly serves the regions of Southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, and western Kentucky. This Halloween Extravaganza promises an evening of musical spookiness that will surely resonate with all lovers of the macabre and the harmonious alike.
