Sunday, October 20, 2019 - 3:00pm

1707 16th Street Vero Beach, FL 32960


STOOKEY Lemony Snicket's The Composer is Dead
SAINT-SAENS Danse Macabre
WILLIAMS Jaws
MUSSORGSKY A Night on a Bald Mountain
GOUNOD Funeral March of a Marionette
ELFMAN Beetlejuice
WILLIAMS E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
GOLDSMITH Gremlins
COLLINS Dracula Suite Redux (*World Premiere)

Eric Pinder, narrator
Michael Hall, guest conductor

Your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra presents a family-friendly program of spooky Halloween music:   Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette, Saint-Saens Danse Macabre, plus musical thrills and chills from familiar film scores including, Jaws, Beetlejuice, E.T., and more.  Also featured on the program is a new exciting work by our very own Aaron Collins, Dracula Reimagined, based on his award-winning 1999 composition, The Dracula Suite.  And this just in:  there’s dreadful news from the concert hall—the composer is dead!  Calling all sneaky sleuths and would-be detectives!  Who offed the composer?  Was it the shifty string section, or maybe the treacherous trumpets?  Every instrument in the orchestra is suspect!  With music by Nathaniel Stookey and text by Lemony Snicket, no one leaves the Concert Hall until this mystery is solved! With entertaining Eric Pinder narrating, The Composer Is Dead is a hilarious whodunit for the whole family.  Join the fun and wear a costume bring the kids in costume for the costume parade and contest!

Artist Information


Eric Pinder is an acclaimed actor, director, and writer who has performed in the Central Florida area for twenty five years. At home in drama, comedy, and musicals he has appeared with Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando Shakes, Florida Opera Theatre, Sarasota Symphony as well as various theme parks. He has performed in twenty two Orlando Fringe Festivals, having written  seven of his own works including Driving Miss Cherry Blossom which was awarded Critic’s Choice “Best Comedy.”

He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Michigan State University and an MFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Florida. Some of his favorite roles include Officer Lockstock (Urinetown), Fagin (Oliver), Major-General Stanley (Pirates of Penzance), Lucius (The Explorers Club), Richard (The Exit Interview), Louis (Shipwrecked!) and The Chairman (Mystery of Edwin Drood). He has directed plays, musicals and operas including Gianni Schicci, Carmen, Amahl and The Night Visitors, Les Mamelles de Teresias, The Seven Year Itch, Jeffrey,  Secrets Every Smart Traveller Should Know, and for Space Coast Symphony, The Merry Widow (which he also adapted) and assisted with The Mikado. He will be directing Brighton Beach Memoirs In January. Eric is an avid Ice Hockey fan and is finishing the libretto for a hockey opera called Goaliedammerung.


Maestro Hall is the newly appointed Music Director of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada. He is also Music Director of the Kennett Symphony in Pennsylvania, a post he has held since 2014. Notable achievements with the Kennett Symphony include consecutive sold out performances, the orchestra’s first free concert, and the first ever commission to celebrate their 75th anniversary. Devoted to forging strong connections between the orchestra and audiences, Hall has created a progressive new concert format designed to enhance and animate the concert experience using non traditional elements, such as narration, visuals, and food and drinks, making the concert experience relaxed and welcoming, perfect for first time concert goers.

Highly acclaimed for his intensity and spontaneity, Hall has appeared with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the Houston Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Symphoria, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Great Falls Symphony, the Bozeman Symphony,  the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Groundswell New Music Ensemble, and the Havant Symphony in the UK, as well as a return to the Tucson Symphony, with whom he has a special relationship and has been a frequent guest conductor in multiple concert series over the past nine seasons. Hall also  works regularly with the Space Coast Symphony in Florida, where he is the newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor.

Formerly Music Director of the Southwest Florida Symphony from 2007 to 2012, Hall’s drive for artistic excellence, innovative thematic programming, and collaborations with celebrated guest artists resulted in unprecedented artistic growth, audience praise, and enthusiastic reviews. Some of the Southwest Florida Symphony’s highlights during Maestro Hall’s tenure include two world premieres commissioned and performed for the orchestra’s 50th anniversary season and pioneering the Orchestra’s first “Discovery” concert– a multimedia educational concert experience designed as an entry point to bring new audiences to symphonic music. Hall also planned, developed and executed the groundbreaking “Glow in the Dark” concert experience. Targeting younger audiences, the program offered real-time program notes accessible on their mobile devices during the performance. This program received national attention in Symphony magazine.

Before being appointed Music Director of the Southwest Florida Symphony, Michael Hall held the position of Associate Conductor with the Pacific Symphony in California, where he developed innovative Family Concerts based on his own original scripts. Hall’s success in California led to his initial three year position being extended to an unprecedented six year tenure. During Michael’s appointment as Resident Conductor with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, he worked with the orchestra in every concert series, most notably in their acclaimed New Music Festival. Upon completion of his tenure, Hall was awarded the “Keys to the City” by Mayor Glen Murray for his outstanding contributions to the arts.

A passionate advocate for music education, both in the concert hall and in the classroom, Maestro Hall has conducted many noteworthy college and youth orchestras including the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University. Hall has also acted as Visiting Guest Artist, Conductor in Residence at Ithaca College’s School of Music, as well as Ball State University’s School of Music in Indiana.

Hall holds a Master’s degree in conducting from the University of Michigan, having studied with renowned conducting pedagogue Gustav Meier, and a DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he worked with Sir Colin Davis. While studying in England, Hall also held the position of Assistant conductor of the Havant Symphony Orchestra in the UK.

Recognized for his talent among his peers, Maestro Hall was a finalist in the International Conducting Competition in Besançon France and was awarded Third Prize in the Cadaques Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Spain.