A few weeks ago, on October 30, Stockton hosted the Bay Atlantic Symphony in the Performing Arts Center. They performed Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C major, op. 48 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626.  The symphony did an excellent job, and the pieces were enjoyed by an almost full PAC.

Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings was written nearly 100 years after Mozart’s Requiem, but was performed by the symphony first. This four-movement composition starts out slow, speeds up, slows drastically, and then speeds up once more. As you can imagine, with only two songs being performed, it is quite long- 29 minutes and 44 seconds to be exact. The Serenade, however, is still dwarfed in length (and complexity) by Mozart’s Requiem, which is over 52 minutes long. The Requiem, which Mozart ironically never finished before his death, involves not only an orchestra, but a chorus and four vocal soloists as well. Joining the Bay Atlantic Symphony for this piece were the “Choral Arts of Southern New Jersey” and “Stockton Oratorio Society,” as well as soprano Natalie Conte, mezzo-soprano Jessica Renfro, tenor Gran Wilson, and bass-baritone Robert Cantrell. Both compositions were performed with great care and precision, and small touches such as providing Latin translations in the program seemed to enhance the audience’s experience.

Personally, after attending this concert, I think of it as a learning experience. I had never been to a classical music concert before, and I likely won’t be attending another anytime soon. Although I appreciate the talent and effort put forth by the performers, and the musical and cultural significance of many of the songs, this concert helped me realize that classical music isn’t really for me. However, I am open to changing my mind; perhaps next year’s performance will do just that.