Homer OPUS will present their third annual Spooky Strings concert on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 4-5:30 p.m. in the Homer High School Commons.

The free community event will showcase a collection of Halloween-themed songs performed by more than 40 new and returning members of OPUS’s Overture Strings, Scherzos and Codas programs. String program director Abimael Melendez returns as conductor for the students’ first public performance of the fall semester.

OPUS board member Mattea Peters, the leading coordinator for this year’s concert, said that several of the pieces in the planned concert repertoire will be played in combination by all three programs. The music selection includes “This is Halloween” from the soundtrack for “The Nightmare Before Christmas;” “Hedwig’s Theme,” the main theme from the Harry Potter film scores; “Let It Go,” from Disney’s “Frozen”; and “Attack of the Walking Basses,” a popular song for young orchestras that puts the spotlight on the bass section.

“Attack of the Walking Basses,” Peters said, allows for several performer interjections throughout the piece.

“There’s a couple of vocal elements too, so that one is kind of fun,” she said. “The students especially tend to enjoy that one.”

The concert will feature nine songs in total.

Light refreshments will follow the conclusion of the concert. Performers and attending audience members alike are encouraged to show up in their Halloween costumes.

The winners of the Homer Youth String Orchestra Club’s annual Practice-a-thon will also be announced during the concert.

For more information, visit homeropus.org.

Members of Homer OPUS perform during the second annual Spooky Strings concert on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023 at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Christina Whiting