An enthusiastic, and appropriately dressed audience, were introduced to a magical, musical Halloween at Bunjil Place. With resident conductor Kent Ross wielding the baton, the orchestra, with special singing guests from MLOC, raced through Andrew Lloyd-Webbers Phantom theme, Danny Elfman’s ‘This is Halloween’, ‘Beetlejuice Suite’ and ‘Wednesday’ (from the recent TV series). Classical buffs were treated to Night on Bald Mountain and the relatively rarely performed Danse Macabre featuring amazing solos from Concertmaster Julia Chen. Other tricks and treats included music and songs from ‘The Adams Family’ musical, Bernard Hermann’s famous scary murder theme from Psycho, and The Gremlins Suite. Two world premieres from the Composers Competition were performed, and well received: Haunted House by William Hanna, and Waltz of the Reaper by George Barsoum, who was in the audience to take the applause. Both the first act and the encore featured the orchestra’s own James Coomans, who arranged the music and swapped his horn for vocals on Ghostbusters. A wonderful end to a successful year.