On Thursday Oct. 31, the IWU Jazz Ensemble hosted their annual Halloween costume concert. The band took the stage, each section in their own respective costumes.
The saxophones dressed as The Wiggles,
the trumpets as wizards, the rhythm section as McDonald’s characters and the sole trombone as the back-end of a horse.
“I always wanted to do a two person horse
costume and I was hoping someone would show up as the front-end,” junior Elijah Dalla said.
The concert program included standards from
the great American songbook such as “New York, New York” and “Come Fly with Me” as well as some more obscure jazz tunes that featured certain band members.
Junior trumpet player Jackson Baker was featured on the chart “Delightful Deggie’ and senior guitarist Aidan Morris soloed on the tune “Eight ball, Side pocket.”
For the audience, the highlight of the nights as the costume contest which has been a staple of the Halloween jazz concert for over two decades.
“The costume contest is a great addition to the concert because it gives audiences an extra incentive for going,” first-year Dom Terlikowsky said.
The costume contest was split into two categories, band and audience. The winder of the former was the rhythm section’s McDonald’s crew.
The audience portion of the costume contest had many participants from all age groups and was won by sophomore Kaleb Rodriguez. He was dressed as the front-end of a horse.
“It was definitely a funny coincidence that I was the front-end of a two person horse and Elijah as the back,” Rodriguez said.
The Halloween concert is a yearly tradition that holds much importance for the ensemble and the band.
“The concert is always fun for the students in the ensemble and the audience,” senior Christian Spear said.
“it’s also a great annual tradition that lets the School of Music be festive and have fun.”
Another special moment from the concert was a brief moment to recognize the previous jazz ensemble director, Glenn Wilson.
“Glenn was a great director and always fostered a focus on tradition. Both the band’s traditions and the larger tradition of jazz music,” senior Jonathan Mead said.
The next jazz performance will be the Combo concert on Dec. 6, 2024 at Presser Hall.