Radcliffe Choral Society News

February  2010
In This Issue
A Message from the Friends
A Letter From Our President
RCS Performs at Harvard For Haiti
Spring Tour 2010
RCS in Pictures!
Where the Wild Things Jam Cliffe Notes
'Cliffe Notes performing in the fall, "Where the Wild Things Jam".

Tzu-Ying and Natalie RCS Sweetheart
Preparing to seranade our RCS Sweetheart, Josh Feng!

Divanny, Molly & Bernie at the Christmas Concert
Eagerly awaiting the start of the Christmas Concert

Caroling
Caroling at Christmascue

Last Christmascue
RCSers and Jim enjoying the last Christmascue ever!

Check out our website for concert and ticket information, music samples, and more!
 
Greetings, Alumnae!
 
This may be the first time that some of you have received a newsletter from the Radcliffe Choral Society in some time; with the help of both alumnae and current singers, RCS has recently finished a database expansion project.  Each academic year you can expect to receive both electronic and paper newsletters containing updates on the Choral Society's current endeavors as well as invitations to alumnae events.
 
This spring offers a variety of exciting opportunities for you to connect with fellow alumnae and current singers.  Those in the Boston area are invited to sing together (with a brief rehearsal beforehand) for residents of an assistant living facility in Cambridge on Sunday, February 28; more details can be found here.  Thanks to the success of a current fundraising campaign among recent graduates (Classes 2004-2009), receptions for alumnae and current singers will take place following RCS' spring tour concerts in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City.  Read RCS Tour Manager Joan Xu's letter below for more information.
 
Last but certainly not least, you should have recently received a special invitation to a Holden Choruses reunion from April 30-May 2 in Cambridge, in honor of Jim Marvin's retirement.  The weekend will include an RCS Alumnae Brunch on Sunday May 2; families welcome!  You can find out more about the weekend, including the brunch, and register for both events at http://www.tingbonggoo.com/holdenmrc/register.  
 
The Friends of the Radcliffe Choral Society, RCS' alumnae foundation, is dedicated to the support of the current Choral Society and to the strengthening of the RCS community.  Please visit http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~rcs/alumnae.html for more information about the group and activities, and feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any ideas or questions.
 
We look forward to seeing many of you this spring!
 
Warmly,
 
Liz Bedell '89 (Co-President)
Cara Ferrentino '08 (Co-President)
Marianne Cook '02 (Vice President of Alumnae Affairs)
Deepa Dhume '05, (Coordinator of Alumnae Activity for Spring Tour 2010)
Jaime Leifer '01 (FRCS Marvin Retirement Representative)

RCS Sanders 09/08 A Letter From Our President

As we enter 2010, I have the honor of writing to you all about our incredibly successful first semester and our exciting upcoming events. Our year started with a fun-filled retreat with the Glee Club, a beautiful fall concert with Collegium, and our annual Christmas concert with the Glee Club. In late January we joined the Glee Club and Collegium for a weekend-long retreat to continue work on our combined work for the end of the year, a commissioned work by composer Robert Kyr.
At the start of second semester, RCS was one of a very few groups selected to participate in the benefit concert Harvard for Haiti which was broadcasted live via the internet and which raised $36,000 for Partners In Health to help them in their relief efforts in Haiti. RCS was thrilled to be able to participate in this very special and important effort.
We are now preparing for our spring concert with the Glee Club and the Spelman College Glee Club. We are excited to be able to combine with the Spelman Glee Club after having such a positive experience with them last March on our spring tour to Atlanta. Additionally, we are looking forward to our spring tour to Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York. We hope to see many of you who live in the areas at our concerts and alumni receptions. Tour is not only an opportunity for us to bond as a choir, but also to reconnect with you, our wonderful alums! We will close the year with a weekend-long Holden reunion in honor of Jim Marvin's retirement after 32 years at Harvard.
I am so proud of what RCS has already accomplished this year, and I know there are only more positive experiences to come. I look forward to sharing those experiences with you as the year continues!
 
Warmly,
 
Emily Pierce
RCS President, 2009-2010

Harvard For Haiti RCS performs at Harvard for Haiti
The Radcliffe Choral Society's most recent performance was an unanticipated one, following the tragic earthquake in Haiti.  The Boston area has a large Haitian population, and the earthquake has elicited a strong response from the Harvard community.  Shortly after the earthquake hit, a dedicated group of undergraduates led by Glee Club and Harvard Black Student Association member Barthalomew Sillah '12 teamed up with the Office for the Arts to organize a Harvard for Haiti benefit concert to raise money for Partners in Health.  Partners in Health is a charitable medical organization affiliated with the Harvard Medical School that has been providing quality medical care and mobilizing communities in Haiti for over twenty years.  The Harvard for Haiti benefit concert, which took place on February 12th, featured choral groups, student soloists, student dance troupes, a presentation by Partners in Health, and speeches by President Faust and College Dean Hammonds.  RCS, conducted by Assistant Conductor Beth Willer, performed three pieces with themes of suffering, hope, and prayer.  The concert raised over $36,000 for Partners in Health.

See a video of the benefit concert here:
http://specialevents.isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k65327&pageid=icb.page301262
New York Beast of the East
Spring Tour 2010
Dear Alumnae,
 
Are you READY?  In 3 weeks, the women of RCS will be coming down to D.C., Philly and NYC!  We definitely, definitely want to see you at our concerts!  And we will be having a post-concert alumnae reception in each city! 

Here is our tour schedule:  
 
Saturday, March 13th - 8:00pm
Universalist National Memorial Church
1810 16th St. Northwest,
Washington, D.C. 20009
Alumnae reception to follow

Monday, March 15, 7:00pm
Walt Whitman High School
7100 Whittier Boulevard
Bethesda, MD 20817

Wednesday, March 17, 8:00pm
Church of the Holy Trinity
1904 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Alumnae reception to follow

Thursday, March 18, 2:00pm
St. Paul's Chapel (Affiliated with Trinity Church, not Columbia University)
209 Broadway
New York, NY 10007

Friday, March 19, 8:00pm
Broadway United Church of Christ
2504 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
Alumnae reception to follow
      
Please contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions at [email protected].  We can't wait to see you!

Sincerely, Joan

Spring 2010 Concert Schedule

Junior Parents Weekend Concert
Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard Glee Club, and Spelman College Glee Club
Kevin Leong & Jameson Marvin, conductors
Saturday, March 6, 8:00PM | Tickets: $20

Tour to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.
Kevin Leong, conductor
Friday, March 13 - Sunday, March 21 | Tickets: Free

Arts First: A Cappella Repetetoire & 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 Directorr of Choral Activites at Harvard University
Jameson Marvin, conductor
Friday, April 30, 8:00PM | Tickets: $28, $24, $18

All concerts are at Sanders Theatre unless otherwise noted. Tickets are available through the Harvard Box Office.

We're really excited about our projects this year.  As you may know, in order to fund them we rely on the generosity of our alumnae. If you are interested in donating, you can donate on our website's donation page, or by sending a check in the mail. Even small sums help enormously!
Write to Us!
Write to us with stories, questions, updated contact information...
Radcliffe Choral Society Co-Historians: Candace Munroe and Kristina Yee
[email protected]
Radcliffe Choral Society
Holden Chapel, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138