The members of the University of Mary Washington Wind and Percussion Ensemble will dress up for its fifth annual costume concert on Halloween night, and audience members are encouraged to don disguises, as well. View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

ALL DRESSED UP! Costume concert is a Halloween tradition

UMW Wind and Percussion Ensemble plays in the dark for Halloween

Date published: 10/27/2005

By JENNIFER STROBEL

Craig Naylor is forever reminding his music students to bring pencils to rehearsals.

One year, a student took the exhortation to the extreme: She came to a performance dressed as a life-size pencil.

But then anything's possible at the Halloween costume concert, the brainchild of Naylor, director of the University of Mary Washington Wind and Percussion Ensemble.

Now in its fifth year, the concert is becoming a tradition for the ensemble of 50 musicians, mostly students, who dress in costume and encourage the audience to do so, as well.

Naylor gets into the act, too. One year he appeared as the New Year's baby. He pulled his hair up into a topknot and wore a robe, which, at the last instant, he flung off to reveal a big diaper and a sash emblazoned with the year 2003.

Another year, he showed up as an old man with a mask and a thick beard.

He won't reveal his costume for this year's concert, which will take place Monday in the Great Hall of the Woodard Campus Center. Admission is a nonperishable food item for the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank.

Just as Naylor is keeping everyone in the dark about his plans, the concert hall will be in the dark altogether at one point.

One of the pieces on the program, "Voodoo," is played in the dark. No conductor. No lights.

The musicians perform from memory.

The title, incidentally, has nothing to do with the practice of religion. According to the Web site of composer Daniel Bukvich, the name came from a missionary friend who told him the night sounds of the jungle in Guatemala reminded her of "those old Voodoo movies."

When the Idaho composer wrote the piece with the didactic mission of challenging performers to listen to one another, it occurred to him that turning the lights out would command their attention.

The UMW ensemble also will perform the theme from the movie "Psycho," as well as a medley of tunes by Ray Charles and from the musical "Chicago."

The musical style for the informal evening is more easygoing than a typical orchestral concert.

"I would compare it with a conventional jazz ensemble but three times as big," Naylor said. "We play a lot of pops tunes that are jazzy."

WHAT: University of Mary Washington Wind and Percussion Ensemble's annual Halloween costume concert WHERE: Great Hall, Woodard Campus Center, UMW WHEN: Monday, 7:30 p.m. COST: Admission is a nonperishable food item for the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank. INFO: 540/654-1959

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Date published: 10/27/2005