Warren Symphony to bring 'Gothic Shadows' Halloween concert Oct. 18

The Warren Symphony Orchestra will bring "Gothic Shadows" to the Warren Consolidated Performing Arts Center on Sunday, October 18 — a live orchestral evening timed to the Halloween season — with admission listed from free to $25.

The concert is set for 4:30 p.m., early enough to bring the whole family, at 12901 15 Mile Road in Sterling Heights — the Warren Consolidated Schools district's own venue, just over the line from Warren.

What a night out costs

The top of that scale tells its own story. At $25, the highest seat is still below the cheapest reported resale ticket for a Detroit Symphony Orchestra performance at Orchestra Hall in 2026, where listings run from roughly $36 to $927.[n_compare]

And the Warren Symphony floor starts at free. A family of four may be able to walk into the hall without a single ticket purchase if that is what the month allows, which could remove price entirely as a barrier to a genuine orchestral night.[n_compare]

An orchestra the community built

The Warren Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra based in Warren, serving Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties across a regular October-to-May season. Andrew Neer is music director and conductor; Joyce Russell serves as executive director.

It traces back to 1972, when budget cuts eliminated the Warren Consolidated Schools string program and community leaders formed the Warren Symphony Society to keep orchestral music and music education available to local families. [fact_founding]

It marked its 50th season in 2023-24; founding music director David Daniels led the orchestra until retiring after the 2008-09 season.

The orchestra has been named Outstanding Community Orchestra at the Detroit Music Awards seven times — in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2014, 2015, and 2017 — and reaches as many as 2,000 elementary students each year through its Youth Concerts.

For the cost of almost nothing, a family can hear the city's own community orchestra in a real hall — not a splurge saved for a special occasion, but something to simply put on the calendar and say yes to.[n_compare]