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Radcliffe Choral Society News
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Read alumnae stories in this issue, and submit your own!
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Visit us on the web for concert and ticket information, music samples, and more!
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From the President
Dear Alumnae,
I
am thrilled to have the opportunity to write to you all at the start of this
new school year as the President of the Radcliffe Choral Society for the
2009-2010 academic year. We have
recently finished our auditions process, and have welcomed twenty-three new
members to the RCS community. We began
our year by a fun-filled retreat with the Glee Club to Hingham, MA, where we had our first performance of
the year. It was a great success! We are currently preparing for our fall
concert with the Collegium Musicum and our annual Christmas concert with the
Glee Club.
We
are also looking forward to the rest of the coming year, including our spring
tour to New
York,
Philadelphia and WashingtonD.C.
We are hoping to use this spring tour as an opportunity to reconnect
with you- our wonderful alumnae-and to strengthen our relationships with those
of you that live in the areas to which we are traveling. On a bittersweet note, at the end of the year
we will say goodbye to our beloved director, Dr. Jameson Marvin. We are excited
to join with HGC and HRCM at the end of the year to perform a new, commissioned
work and to celebrate with our alums, and with Jim, as we bid farewell to
Jim. We hope you will join us as we
celebrate Jim's 32 year tenure as the conductor of the Holden Choirs in a
fun-filled weekend, April 30 to May 2nd.
I
am eager to see what this coming year will hold for RCS, and I hope that you
all will join me in helping to make this year a great one for the choir. I cannot wait to share all the music and
memories of the coming year with you.
Warmly,
Emily Pierce '10
President,
Radcliffe Choral Society
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From the Conductor
 I last wrote to
you in the winter of 2006 after conducting RCS for a full year. It's been too long! I have been waiting eagerly to conduct RCS
again since then, and now I finally have my chance!
Ninety-six women
auditioned for the Holden Choruses this September, and although this is not a
particularly large number, the quality of the singers was quite high. We welcomed twenty-three new women into RCS,
and they are a spirited and talented bunch.
At our annual retreat in Hingham, we very much enjoyed getting to know
them. We also rehearsed a lot and sang
two Sunday services, the first at the First Baptist Church (where we were once
again generously hosted by Rev. Gary Ludwig) and the second with the Harvard
Glee Club at the Old Ship Church. I
chose two anthems for us - Ecce maria
genuit by Michael Praetorius and Tenebrae
factae sunt by Tomás Luis de Victoria - and RCS sang them beautifully. These two pieces will also open our program
at a joint concert with the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum on Halloween
night. We will also be performing music
of Schumann, Kodály, Barber, and Copland.
Other projects
that RCS and I will be working on this year include the annual Holiday Concert
in December and a March concert - both collaborations with the Glee Club - and
a Spring Break tour of the Eastern Seaboard to Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia
(my hometown!); and New York City. I am
thrilled to be working with RCS again and look forward to all the music and fun
that lie ahead of us! We hope to see you
at our concerts and will enjoy reconnecting with many RCS alums on the
tour! Until then...
Best wishes,
Kevin Leong
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Join us in Celebration of Jim Marvin!
 Please join undergraduates from all Holden Choruses and alumni from before the Jim Marvin years and after for a pan-Holden celebration weekend April 30th through May 2nd! The occasion for the reunion, planned to be the largest ever for the alumni of all three singing groups, is the final year of Jameson Marvin's work as Director of Choral Activities at Harvard. After 32 years, Jim is graduating from Harvard and moving on to his own choral projects.
On Friday, April 30th, enjoy Harvard Yard in the Springtime. Register for the reunion in Holden Chapel in the afternoon and attend a concert in Sanders Theatre featuring the Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and Harvard Glee Club in full voice. Finish off the evening with a dessert reception in Harvard's illustrious Memorial Hall. Saturday morning, explore Harvard Square or participate in one of several lectures and discussions on the musical foundation of choral singing from a selection of choral experts. Then it's time to stretch your vocal chords! The afternoon is reserved for individual group alumni sings with notable guest conductors and a grand pan-Holden alumni group practice, led by Jameson Marvin.
On Saturday night, we've reserved the main ballroom at the Cambridge Marriott in Kendall Square for a faculty-student-alumni Holden banquet in Jim's honor. It's the only place in all of Cambridge big enough to seat all the people we expect to attend (over 400). We'll have toasts, cake, dinner and song...not to mention old friends, memories, and babysitters for your kids. Sunday morning, we'll meet up for our own individual RCS reunion brunch to enjoy conversation and impromptu singing with some of the people we spent the most time with during our college years.
Bring the whole family and enjoy the festivities. The Marriott has set aside a special group rate (call (617) 494-6600 and mention the Holden Choruses) and the sooner you reserve your room, the better. If you're not sure whether we have your email address, please write to Isabel Walcott (i@post.harvard.edu) so she can make sure we get you all the registration information. You'll also want to join our facebook event (search for Marvin Ting Bong Goo Weekend). We'll see you there!
Image: Jim showing his sillier side on a hike during our Appalachian Tour.
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2010 Spring Tour to the Northeast!
This spring, RCS will be touring the
Northeast, performing in Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City. Our tentative
concert schedule is as follows:
- Saturday, March 13: Concert at Universalist National
Memorial Church, Washington, DC
- Monday, March 15: Concert at Walt Whitman High School, Washington, DC
- Wednesday, March 17: Concert at The
Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia
- Thursday, March 18: Concert at St. Paul's Chapel of Trinity Church,
New York City
- Friday or Saturday, March 19 or 20:
Final concert in New York, place TBD.
If you are interested in helping us with housing, publicity, finance or any
other aspect of our tour, please contact our Tour Manager, Joan Xu, at
joandxu@gmail.com. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated!
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| A Message from the Friends of RCS...
The Friends of the
Radcliffe Choral Society (FRCS) recently held its autumn meeting, which
included several new members. We are looking forward to a busy and exciting
year! Below is some information about our current activities:
We will be reserving alumnae sections at
future RCS concerts so that we can sit together and cheer on current
members. At the upcoming concert on October 31, look for our signs in the
mezzanine, or ask an usher to point you in our direction.
- In support of the RCS spring tour, we will be
organizing post-concert get-togethers for alumnae in DC, Philadelphia, and New York City. More details to come. Let us know if you
are interested in helping to arrange these events.
- FRCS is always seeking to expand our
membership in order to best support RCS and serve our many alumnae. We
have now incorporated phone conferencing into all of our meetings, so that
alumnae who are far from Cambridge or lack transportation can participate. We
will send out notice when our winter and spring meetings have been
scheduled. If you cannot take part in meetings but would still like to be
involved in FRCS at any level, please get in touch with us.
- We want to hear from you! Send us your
memories of RCS or the latest news about what you are doing. Also, please
let us know if your phone number or mailing address has changed so that we
can keep in touch with you. Thank you for your continued support of RCS!
To get in touch with FRCS
about any of the above activities, contact Marianne Cook, FRCS Vice President
for Alumnae Affairs, at cook@post.harvard.edu.
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2009 Appalachian Spring Tour: Thanks!
Last March, RCS traveled to Atlanta, Knoxville, Nashville and Chattanooga on tour. We had a wonderful time singing and meeting other choirs. The Spelman Glee Club that we sang with will even be joining us at our Junior Parents' Weekend concert! We couldn't have gone without your financial and other support, so thank you!
Images, from top left: Downtime in Nashville, Nashville skyline in the background, exploring Knoxville, hiking in a national park, on the Spelman campus, RCS at end-of-tour banquet.
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Alumnae Voices, Still Raised in Song...
I
sang in RCS from my freshman year through my second year of law school
(and then spent a year in Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus to finish out my
time at Harvard singing somewhere). Then I started practicing law and
had no time for a choir. After 15 years of no singing (unless you count
the national anthem at sporting events and along with the radio in the
car), I joined the Kansas City Women's Chorus. It felt like coming home
to be rehearsing and singing in a women's choir again.
We
are an 80+ voice group. We do two sets of concerts each year, one in
December and one in the spring. Our music mix ranges from Broadway to
jazz to classical to whimsical, and everything in between. Our holiday
concert this year, "Bells, Bells, Bells," features a handbell choir and
seasonal songs. For next spring, we will be "Belles of Broadway" as we
tour the show-side of our repertoire.
I
serve on the board and as an officer, and when I get tired of the
endless fund-raising and administrative issues, all I have to do is go
to a rehearsal and sing. The cameraderie is as good as it was in
college days even though we have a much more diverse group than RCS
ever did.
-M. Courtney Koger, '88, JD '91  Edna Huelsenbeck conducting her choir in Seattle.RCS
was a life-changing experience for me. I came to Harvard as an
instrumentalist and science concentrator, with my only previous choral
experience being the all-camp choir at music camp.. In the spring of my
freshman year, one of my Hollis neighbors recruited me for RCS (thanks,
Natalie!), and since I was looking for a new extra-curricular activity,
I thought I'd give it a try.
Two
decades later, I have a master's degree in music, and have founded and
directed two women's choruses (Concentus in Rochester, NY, and Pacific
Women's Chorus in San Diego). I am now working in the Bay Area as
assistant conductor (and second alto) for both Voci Women's Vocal
Ensemble and Sacred & Profane (an a cappella SATB chamber chorus).
It's
not by accident that I keep ending up in women's choruses: the
collaborative atmosphere, the camaraderie, and the opportunity to sing
low notes keep bringing me back. Singing has helped keep me sane
through two babies and six different cities. I'll admit that the
holiday season is a little crazy around here (with two kids added to
the mix, our family calendar currently shows fifteen performances
during the first three weeks of December), but I wouldn't have it any
other way.
Edna (Yeh) Huelsenbeck '88 Please write to us with your own RCS stories! We would love to hear and share them.
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2009-2010 Concert Schedule:
A Cappella Masterpieces
The Radcliffe Choral Society and the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum
Kevin Leong & Jameson Marvin, conductors
Saturday, October 31, 8:00 PM | Tickets: $20
Christmas in Sanders
Radcliffe Choral Society & Harvard Glee Club
Kevin Leong & Jameson Marvin, conductors
Saturday, December 5, 8:00 PM | Tickets: $20
Junior Parents Weekend Concert
Radcliffe Choral Society & Harvard Glee Club
Kevin Leong & Jameson Marvin, conductors
Saturday, March 6, 8:00 PM | Tickets: $20
Arts First: A Cappella Repertoire & Festive Concerti by Heinrich Schütz
with the Harvard Glee Club and Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum
featuring
the premiere of Robert Kyr's composition in honor of Jameson Marvin's
32 years as Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University
Jameson Marvin, conductor
Friday, April 30, 8:00 PM | Tickets: $28, $24, $18
All concerts are at Sanders Theatre unless otherwise noted. Tickets are available through the Harvard Box Office.
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Write to Us!
Write to us with stories, questions, updated contact information...
RCS Historian: Katie Banks
historian@radcliffechoralsociety.org
Radcliffe Choral Society
Holden Chapel, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
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