PHD's & Pints: A Celebration of Spooky Music

This is not a dry academic talk. Expect storytelling, humor, surprising insights, and plenty of “wait… that’s actually true” moments. A Celebration of Spooky Music & Why It Makes Us Afraid 🎃🎶 Why can just a few notes tell us that something terrible is about to happen? From eerie melodies and unsettling harmonies to the unmistakable sounds of your favorite horror movies, music has an incredible ability to make our hearts race — sometimes before anything scary has even appeared on screen. Join PhDs & Pints for a special Halloween-season lecture with Dr. Kate Amrine, NYC-based musician, educator, and NYU faculty member, as we explore the fascinating relationship between music, the brain, and fear. Kate has performed across Broadway, classical music, musical theater, and contemporary music, and now also presents lectures exploring music and the brain. Kate Amrine Trumpet We'll dive into the musical tricks composers use to create suspense, why certain sounds can feel creepy or threatening, and how our brains turn sound into emotion. Expect musical examples, spooky sounds, surprising science, and plenty of “wait… THAT'S why that sounds scary?” moments. Whether you're a horror-movie fanatic, music lover, psychology nerd, or simply curious about why the Jaws theme makes you nervous before you even see the shark — this one is for you. About the Speaker Dr. Kate Amrine is a professional trumpet player and educator based in New York City. She is an Adjunct Instructor at NYU and has performed across Broadway, musical theater, classical, chamber, and contemporary music. Her credits include Wicked, Chicago, Annie, Broadway Sinfonietta, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and more. She holds a doctorate from Stony Brook University as well as degrees from Peabody Conservatory and NYU, where she studied both Trumpet Performance and Psychology. NYU Steinhardt 🎃 A Celebration of Spooky Music and Why It Makes Us Afraid 📅 October 21 | 6:30 PM 📍 Sugar Mouse NYC | 47 3rd Ave, New York, NY Kate Amrine Trumpet 🍻 Drinks • Games • Live Discussion 🎓 No academic background required Come for the spooky music. Stay to find out why your brain thinks it's spooky.