Jacob Liao, Contributing Photographer

Tickets for the Yale Symphony Orchestra’s annual Halloween Show are going on sale at 10:31 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16.

YSO schedules the ticket-drop for 10:31 p.m. each year in reference to Halloween’s calendar date. Tickets have sold out within minutes in past years; last year, according to YSO, tickets sold out in three minutes. The performance features a student-created silent film, screened as the symphony performs a live soundtrack to accompany the film. All members involved in production, with the exception of the director and cinematographer, are in YSO. 

“I had been to some of their concerts beforehand, but I just heard this was a huge production,” Brennan Columbia-Walsh ’26 said. “I thought it was pretty special and kind of nerdy, honestly, that everybody on campus went to the symphony on Halloween … It was a pretty transcendent experience to sit and just see the moving body of the orchestra, along with film. It was a really great intersection of the arts.”  

Columbia-Walsh spoke about the audience’s energy at last year’s performance as he said YSO “rose to the occasion” of Halloween. He said that this Halloween spirit was echoed on the stage, as different sections of the orchestra wore group costumes. 

Along with the loud cheers from the crowd and the orchestra-wide costumes, YSO’s Halloween concert deviates from a typical, all-classical music setlist. 

“[The show] is so immersive,” said Sophia Schwaner ’26, one of the show’s three producers. “As an audience member, you’re taking in both music and a stunning visual, as well. It’s a full experience that combines both classical music and pop music in the soundtrack, so there’s something for everyone.” 

Part of the anticipation for this concert comes from the secrecy that shrouds it. The details of the film and accompanying soundtrack remain confidential until the performance. 

Raoul Herskovits ’25, the show’s writer and conductor, said the story for this year’s silent film, called “A Nightmare on York Street,” according to the show’s poster on YSO’s Instagram page, will not be a parody of another film, deviating from the style of the last two shows.

“It’s always been hard to recognize the parody in what is always a very altered, Yale-related and very goofy Halloween show,” said Herskovits. “I hold a lot of reverence and respect for last year’s production, but I’ve opted to abandon the one-to-one parody in favor of a more original script with smaller references all over.” 

Both Herskovits and Schwaner hinted at the use of unexpected media elements. According to Schwaner, there is an aspect of the show that is more “immersive” than past years. 

If there is anything that audience members can expect, it is a laugh, as Herskovits said the show is a “comedy all the way through!” 

Schwaner said she hopes that audience members will receive the same joy and laughter she has experienced while working on this show. 

“We had a lot of fun making the film,” said Schwaner. “I hope that the audience at least receives — through this sort of ridiculous, melodramatic and comedic film — that there was a lot of joy during the filming … Because that’s why we’re doing this, to make people laugh and to make people feel connected through shared experience and art, really.” 

While there were moments that called for seriousness and “technical rigor,” Schwaner told the News that she and the other two producers aimed to preserve the “lightness and joy” of the show.

Schwaner also spoke about the importance of collaboration in putting together the show. 

“We also always knew in the back of our heads that this is a fun event for many members of the community and kept our goals in mind,” said Schwaner. “It is entirely a collaborative process. I feel like this whole experience has made me so much more perceptive of the nuance of what each person brings to an artistic experience.” 

The YSO concert will be held in Woolsey Hall on Halloween, Oct. 31.