This Fall, the Harvard Choruses introduced their New Music Initiative. Made possible by a generous contribution to support the creation of new music by Harvard students and the exploration of new music on campus by the Harvard Choruses, the Initiative aims both to establish a comprehensive program devoted to nurturing undergraduate composers and to create new works for choral ensembles through commissions, competitions, and residencies. The Initiative seeks to build upon Harvard’s reputation as an international leader in advancing the choral tradition through the creation of new work and as a leading collegiate training program for students interested in choral composition while providing a transformative and essential part of the music program at Harvard. As the Initiative develops, it will include new commissions for the Choruses and workshops, coachings, and performances of student compositions by an annual professional vocal ensemble in residence.
The following article was written by Cherie Hu '17 (Collegium), and appeared on the Office for the Arts at Harvard Arts Blog the day before students from RCS and Collegium performed the ONE MUSIC concert in Sanders Theatre.
In many ways, choral concerts are a bastion of tradition. Standing statically in SATB formation, singers often perform pieces drawn from classical repertoire that for many are inaccessible or unrecognizable, interspersed with brief applause from the audience. The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum and the Radcliffe Choral Society will be breaking free from those traditions with ONE MUSIC, the annual fall concert 8:00 pm Friday, November 4 in Sanders Theatre. This marks my first year singing as a member of Collegium, and I could not be more thrilled to engage with such a diverse, experimental program. |