Get into the Halloween spirit with this special candlelight concert

A classical quartet, dimly lit by hundreds of candles, can convey many emotions—intimacy, romance, relaxation, and in some circumstances, it can even create an eerie atmosphere.

For their upcoming performance, Candlelight Concerts and Fever will opt for the latter as they present a memorable night of Halloween-themed tunes played by the Listeso Quartet as they are lit by nothing but candlelight. The concert will occur at the Joseph Strung Hall on Oct. 25 and 26, starting at 6:30pm.

The setlist contains many horror favourites, such as “Tubular Bells”, best known from The Exorcist soundtrack, and even some pop hits like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, all covered in a classical style. And while classical music doesn’t have the broadest appeal, Candlelight in Canada team lead Andrew Bryan believes experiencing the atmosphere in full is worth the ticket.

“What Candlelight adds is the visual, sensory aspect of having thousands of candles,” says Bryan in an interview with The Coast. “Two thousand, sometimes 5,000 candles—LED candles—but that’s quite a bit of candles in one space, and they do flicker and are very realistic looking, so you’re not only able to focus on the movement and the expression, faces and fingers of the musicians, but you’re also able to look at the candles themselves. It really becomes this mesmerizing experience.”

This is far from the first Candlelight Concert in Halifax. Since September 2023, Fever has put on several classical concerts every month, often with different members of the Listeso Quartet performing thematic setlists and popular music, such as their tribute to The Beatles or their fantasy-fuelled Rings and Dragons performance featuring music from The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones—both of which are also coming up on Oct. 11 and Oct. 25, respectively.

Since coming to Halifax, Bryan believes the response to Candlelight Concerts has been fantastic.

“The people were very interested and happy to have this type of programming available in Halifax,” says Bryan of people’s initial reactions to their concerts. “It’s a more casual and accessible type of concert with the beautiful candle aspect along with the classical music format…The people in Halifax brought their East Coast spirit, and not only did we see a good amount of audience when we launched as we typically expect in a new city, but the people of Halifax are still coming out.”

Fans of classical music can expect haunting melodies such as Dmitri Shostakovich’s “String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110” and Charles Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette”, while movie buffs will have a variety of famous tracks such as John Carpenter’s “Halloween (Theme)” and even a medley from The Nightmare Before Christmas, composed by Danny Elfman. The full tentative setlist is available on the website, where tickets can also be purchased.

For Bryan, the setlist shifting between well-known film scores to macabre classical pieces will help introduce the latter while giving listeners something they recognize with the former.

“It’s a great opportunity to introduce to the general population awesome classical music,” says Bryan.