Auer Hall at capacity for Pro Arte Singers, Chamber Orchestra

The entire hall was crammed for mass – Bach’s “Mass in B Minor,” that is.

Auer Concert Hall was filled to capacity for Bach’s “Mass in B Minor,” performed by the Jacobs School of Music Pro Arte Singers and the Chamber Orchestra  on Wednesday.

Students and citizens utilized every available seat, bit of floor space and stairs to sit on and every available wall to lean on. The audience crowded the main seating area and the upper balcony, but Jacobs employees had barricaded off seats due to instrumental adjustments in balcony.

However, each audience member seemed to forget about the hassle and frustration from the overcrowding as the singers and the orchestra started the classic musical mass. 

As the musicians and audience applauded Jacobs professor and conductor William Jon Gray’s entrance, a soothing calm spread throughout the hall. And with each musician at attention and each singer in proper posture, they waited in anticipation of the beginning of the concert.

A wave of Gray’s hand, and a powerful chord swept through the crowd, leaving the audience completely silent.

“It’s dense and intense,” sophomore Amanda Sesler said.

All musicians focused intensely on reading their music and letting the deep tones of the harmonies take over their minds and bodies. The orchestra members moved in rhythm with their instruments; the singers’ bodies and faces portrayed the emotions brought to life by the lyrics.

At intermission, Sesler and fellow sophomore Jeremy Johnson discussed the mass and the musical groups’ collaboration.

“It’s cool to hear the choir and the orchestra and the whole work in its entirety,” Johnson said.

Both Sesler and Johnson stood behind the rows of packed seats in the balcony for the performance. But Sesler said moving the concert to a bigger venue would have negatively changed the performance.

“I don’t know that the sound quality would be the same,” she said.

Johnson added he was very much impressed with the show, even with recognizing the high caliber of Jacobs.

“This is the highest-quality performance I’ve seen in a long time,” he said.