When Giacomo Puccini wrote his only mass, "Messa a quattro voci con orchestra" for a graduation project in 1880, he could never have known that more than 100 years later a student similarly poised on the brink of a musical career would convene an orchestra, chorus and soloists to perform it.
The student is Erik Ochsner '93, and tonight at 8 p.m. in Collis Common Ground, his efforts will come to fruition. Ochsner founded Pro Musica, the group that will perform the mass, as a symphonic wind ensemble last spring, when it performed a symphony by Berlioz in the Top of the Hop to an audience of about 100.
In its current incarnation, Pro Musica is composed of an orchestra and chorus of 70 members and two soloists. Ochsner recruited them from the community through advertisements in The Dartmouth and the Valley News, and they range from college students to senior citizens, and from a member of the Class of '28 to a freshman.
"It's been a long haul," Ochsner said of his tireless work in assembling the musicians and rehearsing with them. He drove to Randolph, Vt. every Tuesday to rehearse with members of the string section, in addition to holding weekly rehearsals on campus with the chorus and orchestra.
Susan Brown, a soprano in the chorus from Thetford, Vt. said Ochsner was doing excellent work. "He knows what he's doing, and he knows his music thoroughly."
The performance is the culmination of Ochsner's independent study with Melinda O'Neal, director of the Handel Society. Ochsner has also conducted the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra in its performance of Tchaikovsky's "Francesca da Rimini," and has participated in the now defunct Dartmouth Conducting Institute.
From the age of 14, Ochsner knew he wanted to conduct. The founding of Pro Musica and its performance tonight are significant achievements, but they are only items on a long list of accomplishments that include solo piano, piccolo, flute and voice performances and stints at the Bayreuth International Youth Festival and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
"I like working with people. Conducting is like teaching," Oschner said.
"Messa di Gloria," as the piece is now known, was performed several times in the 1880s before it disappeared, according to Bill Ballard, who is a professor emeritus of mathematics and a singer in the chorus. The mass was rediscovered in 1950 by an American priest.
Puccini is more well known for his operas, particularly "Turnadot" and "Tosca."
Carsten Sue of Mainz, Germany will sing the tenor solo. Stuart Duke, a veteran of Vermont opera and choral productions, will sing the baritone solo.
Last year, Pro Musica was funded completely by Ochsner, but for this performance the Collis Programming Board and the Dickey Center for International Understanding helped finance the group, the latter because of Sue's participation.
The performance of "Messa di Gloria" tonight marks the end, for the present, of Ochsner's conducting career at Dartmouth. This is his last term on campus. In April he will audition for the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he would receive the training he needs to realize his dream of conducting opera.
