October 30, 2025
Video: Halloween concert highlights spooky organ classics
The Halloween Organ Concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Kane Hall’s Walker-Ames Room. The event is free.
Stephen Price, artist in residence and head of organ studies at the University of Washington, will be joined by students and colleagues on Friday, Oct. 31, to perform a concert of spooky organ classics and Halloween fun.
The concert will open with “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” which Price will play on the organ. Most likely written by Johann Sebastian Bach in the Baroque period, the composition is strongly associated with Halloween and spooky films, including the Disney movie “Fantasia.”
“People will recognize that piece and sort of expect it,” Price said. “We will then have vocal students and instrumentalists from the UW School of Music, which will show how the organ can be an accompanying instrument, outside of just being a solo instrument. Each organist will bring their own character and style to their performances.”
Other concert selections include “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” “Pink Panther,” the Mexican folk song “La Llorona,” , and the American folk tune “The House of the Rising Sun.”
“Events like this are important because they expose people to organ music that may not ever take the chance to go and hear an organ concert,” Price said. “It is a very popular event, and it’s oriented around popular music and familiar music. That makes it a fun experience.”
After graduating from Western Connecticut State University, Price received a Fulbright Scholarship to Toulouse, France, where he studied historical and modern performances practices of French organ music. He went on to earn a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in music.
“I have a colleague here in Seattle who believes the instrument chooses you, and I think there may be some truth to that,” Price said. “The first time I saw an organist play, I knew instantly that’s what I wanted to do.”
Tag(s): School of Music • Stephen Price