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BLODGETT:
CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
and
DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS
Neba Solo, master balafon player from Mali, brought his musicians and dancers to Harvard for a week's residency as a Blodgett Distinguished Artist.
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The Blodgett Chamber Music Series produces several concerts each year featuring the artists-in-residence. These concerts are free and open to the public, and take place in John Knowles Paine Concert Hall.
The Blodgett Artist-in-Residence Program
The Blodgett Artist-in-Residence program is made possible through a gift from Mr. and Mrs. John W. Blodgett, Jr. The program provides for distinguished artists and ensembles to spend four weeks each year in residence at the Harvard University Department of Music offering workshops, coaching, and lessons to Harvard students. The Blodgett artists are also available to read undergraduate and graduate student compositions, and to perform a composition by the winner of the annual Blodgett Composition Competition. Each visit culminates with a free public performance.
Additionally, the music department invites Blodgett Distinguished Artists to lecture and perform in a variety of musical disciplines. Recent artists have been Koo Nimo (Ghanaian music), Sir Harrison Birtwistle (composer), and Neba Solo (Malian balafon musician). |
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2007-2008 Blodgett Artists-in-Residence:
Ying String Quartet
The members of the Ying Quartet, three brothers and a sister, were born and raised in Chicago, and began their career as an ensemble in 1992. As the first recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts grant to support chamber music in rural America, the Yings lived in Jesup, Iowa for two years where their successes were chronicled in the New York Times and featured on CBS Sunday Morning. The Ying have since established an international reputation for excellence in performance. In 2006, they won a Grammy Award for their collaboration with Turtle Island String Quartet.
The Ying Quartet has appeared in every major American city, as well as in England, Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, Estonia, Canada, Mexico Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. Summer festival engagements have included Tanglewood, Aspen, Norfolk, Caramoor, San Miguel, Brevard, Strings in the Mountains, Kapalua, and the Colorado Music Festival. They have also performed at Carnegie Hall and the White House. Frequent musical collaborations have included such artists as Menahem Pressler, Paul Katz, Gilbert Kalish, Eli Eban, and Lawrence Dutton.The Ying's repertoire includes works by Adler, Rouse, Gardner, Hodkinson, Shapey, Silver, Primosch, Beal, Diamond and Chen-Yi, among others.
The Ying recently introduced a multi-year commissioning project supported by the Institute for American Music that is designed to produce a distinctively American string quartet repertoire. A pair of works each season by established and emerging composers will be used in the Ying's diverse performance activities. Participating composers hus far include Michael Torke, Kevin Puts, Carter Pann, Paquito D'Rivera, Augusta Read Thomas, and Bernard Rands.
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FROMM PLAYERS AT HARVARD
Gil Rose, conductor, Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Fromm Players concert, 2003
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The Fromm Players at Harvard give a series of concerts in Paine Hall which are devoted to new music. The concerts are sponsored by the Department and the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard.
The Fromm Foundation at Harvard is the oldest foundation in the country devoted exclusively to the support of new music. From 1972 through 1987 the Fromm Music Foundation was partially administered by the Music Department. Beginning in the fall of 1987, it was moved entirely here. The Foundation grants commissions annually to young composers, sponsors an annual composition award and contemporary music concert at Tanglewood, and has recently helped to establish a composer residency at the American Academy in Rome. In addition, the Foundation has supported a variety of concerts and festivals of new music throughout the country. |
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HARVARD GROUP FOR NEW MUSIC
 Performance at Midway Studios, 2005
Photo: Tolga Yayalar
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HGNM is comprised of Harvard University Music Department graduate students, including composers from the composition, theory musicology and ethnomusicology programs. The primary purpose of HGNM is to perform works by its membership, to foster a sense of community among the resident composers and to develop musical and professional relationships beyond the group. HGNM presents four concerts a year including the Thelma E. Goldberg Concert and the FROMM residency. In addition, members of HGNM collaborate with HUSEAC (Harvard University Studio for Electroacoustic Composition) to concerts of
original works.
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THELMA E. GOLDBERG CONCERT |
The Thelma E. Goldberg Concert was established by Professor Ray Goldberg in honor of his wife. The concert is meant to encourage performances of contemporary music by current Harvard student composers. All Harvard students, from first-year undergraduates to Ph.D. candidates, are eligible to submit works for consideration. |
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WORLD MUSIC AT HARVARD
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This is a series of concerts and lectures given by significant performers of world music from outside Harvard. Events are free, open to the public, and generally held in John Knowles Paine Concert Hall. Concerts have included Zimbabwe Mbira, a Mbira Music Lecture Demonstration, Turkish classical musicians Reha and Selma Sagbas, and a concert of music from South Asia.
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PERFORMANCE COURSES
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The Department offers a wide range of music courses each semester. The following courses in chamber music may be taken for academic credit:
- Music 180r. Chamber Music Performance and Analysis. An audition is required. May not be counted for concentration credit.
- Music 182r. 18th-Century Performance Practice. Permission of the instructor is required. This course is not given every year. Consult the course catalog for scheduling and possibilities for concentration credit.
- Music 183r. 19th- and 20th-Century Performance Practice. Permission of the instructor is required. This course is not given every year. Consult the course catalog for scheduling and possibilities for concentration credit.
- 93r. Supervised Reading and Research. Open to students wishing to pursue supervised study in chamber music. Students must submit a study proposal to Professor Yannatos and a signed proposal to the Department Administrator. May not be counted for concentration.
9999x Independent Study. For upperclassmen only. Credit for music lessons must be applied for through the Music Department. Forms are available in the front office of the Music Building and the Senior Tutor's Office. Prior approval is required, and no credit will be given unless all guidelines are strictly adhered to. Independent Study is not available to Freshman. |
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INFORMATION ON MUSIC PERFORMANCE
OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT |
Graduate students in Ensemble 1521, a medieval singing group, 2003 Photo: Aaron Allen.
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The Office for the Arts and the Harvard Houses
Twenty-six-percent of the recently admitted class of 2009 are involved in music, a larger number than in any other activity. Harvard's campus is a very active musical campus, and numerous performance opportunities are available. Music performance, like all performing arts at Harvard, is considered extra-curricular. Musical groups on campus are all student-governed, and each handles its own auditions, operations, touring and funding.
For the most comprehensive information on all Harvard's musical organizations and groups, consult make art. (formerly Practice and Performance: The Guide to the Arts at Harvard), a resource maintained by the he Office for the Arts at Harvard.
Many students opt to take music lessons while they are at Harvard. Lessons are arranged privately between the student and his/her instructor, and are usually considered extra-curricular. Some students have their current instructor recommend teachers in the Boston area. Some find their instructor through the bulletin board in the Music Department or seek recommendations from fellow students. The Office for the Arts has a new online music teacher reference guide where you can find information (training, fees, etc.) of many Boston area teachers.
The Office for the Arts (see above) can help students with music lessons. They maintain a Lesson Subsidy Program (late September deadline; all application material is to be obtained from them. An audition may be required for students requesting subsidies for the first time). Click here for more information on these and other OFA programs.
Several of the Harvard houses offer opportunities for musical performance. For instance, Dudley House hosts several graduate student music groups including a chorus, orchestra, jazz band, and traditional music ensemble. Each house has its own music tutor or tutors and all of the houses have piano practice rooms and pianos available for students.
SOCH (Student Organization Center at Hilles)
is a newly rennovated facility designed to provide Harvard's student organizations with unprecendented space including a recording studio, practice rooms and a small concert hall.
Since its opening in October, 2006, SOCH has houses 110 student groups. In addition to office space, SOCH provides all 367 recognized students groups with photocopiers, fax machines, projectors, and office supplies in two "collaborative zones." The Penthouse Coffee Bar on the top floor serves local foods, fruit smoothies, pizza and beverages."
See Gazette story
Harvard Box Office
The Harvard Box Office provides a campus-wide schedule of cultural events/tickets and passes. It's located in the Holyoke Center Arcade in the middle of Harvard Square.
Harvard Gazette
The Harvard Gazette publishes weekly listings of performances and lectures. Click here to see the current on-line Gazette calendar.
Articles on music at Harvard:
New Music Scores
Music Activity at a Fever Pitch
A Different Tone
Arts Spectrum: Focus on Music
Undergraduates Stroll Down Great White Way
Global Tintinnabulation
The Cantoria Code
Copland: Cold War Ambassador
Student Musical Groups
All performance ensembles are considered extra-curricular and carry no possiblity for academic credit.
The following is a partial list of student music groups on campus. A more complete list (including opera, musical theater, music appreciation and many more chamber choral and world music groups) is available from the Office for the Arts (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ofa)
Choirs:
Dudley House Chorus
Harvard Glee Club
Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus
Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum
Kuumba Singers
Radcliffe Choral Society
University Choir
Early Music:
Harvard Early Music Society
Orchestras:
Bach Society Orchestra
Dudley House Orchestra
Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra
Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra
Mozart Society Orchestra
Toscanini Chamber Orchestra
Chamber Music & Ensembles:
Brattle Street Chamber Players
(contact anderegg@fas)
Houghton Library Chamber Music Series
Mather House Chamber Music Program
Harvard Wind Ensemble
New Music:
Harvard Group for New Music
Harvard-Radcliffe Contemporary Music Ensemble
(contact erichmon@fas.harvard.edu)
Concert Bands:
Harvard University Band
Jazz Bands:
Dudley House Jazz Band
Harvard Jazz Bands
Instrument-Dedicated Groups:
Harvard-Radcliffe Organ Society
T.H.U.D. (The Harvard University Drummers)
Harvard University Flute Ensemble
World Music:
Dudley House Traditional Music Ensemble
Han Ma-Eum (Korean Drummers)
Mariachi Veritas
Gamelan:
site/info to come
A Capella Groups:
Harvard Din and Tonics
Harvard Low Keys
Harvard-Radcliffe Callbacks
Harvard-Radcliffe Opportunes
Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones
Mizmor Shir
Noteables
Radcliffe Pitches
for the Harvard Krocodiloes, go to http://www.kroks.com/
Theatrical/Opera:
Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players
Dunster House Opera
Hasty Pudding Theatricals
Lowell House
Opera
FULL Listing of Music Groups at Harvard
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