Bach Society Orchestra: 50 Years
By Alexander Brash ’06
When Michael Greenbaum ’55 founded the Bach Society Orchestra 50 years ago, he did not know how his organization would thrive over time. He had not yet seen the Yo-Yo Mas and Lynn Changs pass through its ranks, nor imagined the Alan Gilbers and John Adamses who would ascend the podium as music director. What he did know was that even in a musical community which boasts the oldest orchestra in the nation (the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, formally the Pierian sodality), there was room for still more.
Greenbaum founded an institution modeled after what is, to my mind at least, the most important aspect of music: collaboration. Small but versatile, capable of adapting itself to perform works form Bach to Brahms to some of the latest masters of the 20tyh century, and entirely student led, the Bach Society Orchestra is continuing this year, in its 50th season, the tradition of being a pioneering force for music at Harvard. As the Boston Globe reported, “One expects a student-run, student-conducted orchestra to excel in esprit de corps and not much else. The surprise is, these people can really play.” And play we can.
This season we are brining in BachSoc alum and composer/conductor John Harbison ’60 to give his “Most Often Used Chords,” a piece that premiered in Boston just this last year by the Boston Symphony. We will also be joined by Robert Levin, Stefan Jackiw, and another guest conductor to present a special ARTS FIRST gala concert May 8. In the spirit of continued growth, BachSoc is striving to become the first Harvard orchestra to function entirely off of an endowment fund, a fund we are will on our way to creating. We are undertaking a tour of New York City, and planning for further touring and community outreach in the future.
BachSoc has sponsored a lecture series to take place before concerts to better educate ourselves and our audiences, and we are revitalizing our relationship with our alumni and other Harvard musical organizations. To that end, we have spearheaded the creation of the Orchestra Cooperative Committee, a forum for all the orchestras on campus to come together and work out logistical problems, share ideas and resources, and make recommendations to the whole community as to how to improve the orchestra environment at Harvard.
I am proud to lead BachSoc through this exciting time of transition, and I hope to see everyone at our performances. Please visit our website at www.bachsoc.org for more information.
Alexander Brash is the conductor of the Bach Society Orchestra for the 2004-05 academic year.
