Glee Club / Choral Society Alumni Reunion Concert in Estes Park August 22

You are invited to attend a free concert given by alumni of the Harvard Glee Club / Radcliffe Choral Society 1967 Asian Tour at 7:30 pm on Saturday, August 27 at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park

In June 1967, 90 members of the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society gave a concert in Denver and set off for the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park for rehearsals, orientation, and recreation before striking off on their 1967 Asian Tour.  During the next three months, under the inspiring musical direction of the late Prof. Elliot Forbes [AB ’41, AM ’47, DMus (honorary) ‘03] and the skillful management of Edmund Goodhue [AB ’68], the chorus sang concerts in Hawaii, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Israel, and then-Yugoslavia, ending up with performances at the Edinburgh Festival.

That tour was a life-changing experience for the participants, and the bonding that they experienced has led to periodic reunions in Cambridge, generally concluding with a free concert.  Tour president Stephen Griffith [AB ’67] has long wanted the group to revisit Estes Park where the whole enterprise got underway.  Following more than a year's planning, 50 of those singers will convene for a four-day reunion, revisiting selections from the programs they sang around the world 48 years ago.  The reunion’s culmination will be an informal concert in the YMCA’s Hyde Chapel on Saturday evening, August 22 at 7:30 P.M to which all Harvardians are cordially invited.

The program is expected to include a fifteenth century motet, Elizabethan madrigals, Brahms waltzes, favorite pieces by Randall Thompson [AB ’20, AM ’22], African American spirituals, and national and folk songs from Asia.

Singing is the glue that has kept this group together during five decades, and continues to energize its members even as they retire and teach their grandchildren to sing.  They invite you to share their joy on the 22nd.

And ... you can put this on your calendar now: the current Harvard Glee Club will be performing in Denver during their 2016 spring tour on Friday, March 18.