Halloween is once again making its way to the Southern campus, and in more ways than one. 

The Missouri Southern Music Department will hold two student piano recitals the week of Halloween that feed off the public’s Halloween-fueled mood by featuring a few “spooky” musical compositions for the enjoyment of their audiences.

   “They’re not specifically themed for Halloween, it just happened to come out that way, said Stacey Barelos, assistant professor of music. “The music majors have to give recitals, and these two turned out having a lot of Halloween-ish pieces.”

   The concerts, which will be held in the Corley Auditorium on Oct. 29 and Oct. 31, will feature junior music majors Seth Ernst, Sarah Tao, and Bethany Mullins.

   Ernst and Tao will be playing at the Oct. 29 recital and will be performing a rendition of the Lowell Lieberman composition “Gargoyles,” while Mullins, who will be playing at the Oct. 31 recital along with a few guests, will perform a rendition of the popular Frederic Chopin composition “Funeral March,” as well as Gyorgy Ligeti’s “Musica Ricercata #2,” which was featured in the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut.

   “The first half of my recital is pretty much all classical music, which is repertoire that I’ve been working on for the last year,” said Mullins. “Then the second half is duets and pieces that have more of a scary feel because it’s Halloween and I wanted to include some music that was a bit more haunting, just to pay homage to that.”

   In addition to the Halloween-inspired music choices, Mullins will also be playing the main theme from the James Bond film franchise during her recital.

   “I just really love the music for it,” said Mullins, “and it’s really fun and I thought it would be a fun way to end the concert and not do what people are expecting.”

   The two recitals will be free and open to the public, and will both begin at 5p.m. For more information regarding the concerts, contact Barelos at (417) 625-9543.