HARVARD GLEE CLUB - Church of St John the Evangelist

The Harvard Glee Club performs in Kitchener-Waterloo

Friday, March 12, 2010

8:00 PM

Founded in 1858, the Harvard Glee Club is the oldest college choir in America, and is considered by many to be the premier collegiate men's chorus in the U.S. The choir's unique blend of signature Renaissance polyphony, classic folk songs and contemporary works is sure to delight the audience. The Harvard Glee Club is a close-knit group of Harvard undergraduate and graduate students bound together by friendship, a shared love of music, and a passion for singing for diverse audiences at Harvard, across the United States, and around the world.

History

Symphony collaborations over the years have included multiple performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under all of its Conductors since 1917, as well as with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and the Italian Radio Orchestra. Several BSO highlights: the American premiere of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, later recorded with the BSO under Bernstein; two Berlioz recordings: Romeo et Juliet and la Damnation de Faust, the latter of which won a Grand Prix du Disc; and Mozart's Requiem, which got a Grammy nomination for this concert performance in memory of JFK.

Many important 20th century composers have created works for HGC. These include Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Virgil Thomson, Randall Thompson, Gustav Holst, Elliot Carter, Leonard Bernstein, Irving Fine, John Harbison, Toru Takemitsu, even P.D.Q. Bach! The HGC Foundation is currently commissioning a new batch of pieces from contemporary composers: Charles Fussell, Carol Barnett, Sir John Tavener, Stephen Paulus, Steven Sametz, Frank Ferko, Morten Lauridsen and Dominick Argento.