This 2024-2025 season is the 125th Anniversary of RCS! Please join us for an in-person celebration on Friday and Saturday May 2 and 3, 2025 in Cambridge, MA. Click the “125th Anniversary” tab above for more info!
For many of us, memories of singing and touring with RCS are among the most meaningful of our Radcliffe and Harvard experiences. The Radcliffe Choral Society Foundation (RCSF) is dedicated to supporting the activities of the current Choral Society, strengthening the RCS community, and honoring our shared experiences and proud traditions.
Politics, sex, religion, and power converge in the turbulent Massachusetts Bay Colony, culminating in the 1637 trial of Puritan Anne Hutchinson. In a gripping new opera by James Kallembach, this dramatic chapter of Boston’s history comes to life, delving into the roots of America’s unique political DNA. At its heart is the clash between midwife and spiritual leader Anne Hutchinson and Governor John Winthrop—a battle over public versus private, common good versus individual freedom, and law versus home.
This fictional operatic retelling interweaves communal singing from sources like the Bay Psalm Book, excerpts from Hutchinson’s meticulously documented trial, and an array of primary texts—from bawdy rhymes to iconic works of embroidery. John Winthrop, his wife Margaret, and Anne Hutchinson struggle to find meaning alongside Anne’s young protégé Mary and her lover Tom, who hope to escape to the promise of a life outside of Boston’s political and religious strife. Communal order, free-wheeling expression, and female oppression mete out consequences every bit as dire as those feared from God’s providence.
Commissioned by the Harvard Choruses, the world premiere of American Jezebel will be conducted by Dr. Hana Cai in a semi-staged concert performance. Soprano Sarah Joyce Cooper stars as Anne Hutchinson, with baritone Sumner Thompson as John Winthrop, and a talented cast of performers bringing this powerful story to the stage.
Enjoy an evening of music at the 123rd Annual Harvard-Yale Football Concert with the Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard Glee Club, and Yale Glee Club, on Friday, November 22 at 8pm. All three ensembles will present eclectic works from various traditions, styles, and eras — concluding with the classic Harvard and Radcliffe fight songs to rally up the spirit before The Game!
RCSF is hosting a Football Concert watch party via Zoom. Please enjoy our online gathering with fellow alums totally free (audience chatting welcomed!)
On Sunday, November 17 at 3:00pm, RCS will perform Gustav Holst’s The Planets with Boston Philharmonic. The program also includes Purcell’s Chacony in G minor and the Elgar Cello Concerto. For tickets and further information, please visit: https://www.bostonphil.org/concerts/2024-2025/bpo2-elgar-holst
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Join the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum and guest artist, tenor Fred VanNess, and the Radcliffe Choral Society for an evening of choral music featuring works by Undine Smith Moore, Reena Esmail, Adolphus Hailstork, Zoltán Kodály, Rosephanye Powell, and others.
$15 General Admission, free for students with Harvard I.D.
Under the baton of HRO Music Director Federico Cortese, the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra will be opening their 217th season with the most extensive of Gustav Mahler’s nine symphonies, featuring world-renowned mezzo-soprano Alexis Peart and the Radcliffe Choral Society.
The fourth movement, Sehr Langsam-Misterioso, features text from Friedrich Nietsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra. Below is an except translated from German to English:
O Man! Take heed! What says the deep midnight? “I slept, I slept —, from a deep dream have I awoken: — the world is deep, and deeper than the day has thought. Deep is its pain —, joy — deeper still than heartache. Pain says: Pass away! But all joy seeks eternity —, — seeks deep, deep eternity!”
Join us or tune in to hear this work.
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2024 Time: 8:00 p.m. ET Location: Sanders Theatre and WHRB 95.3 Radio Address: 45 Quincy St. Cambridge, MA 02138 Tickets: $25 General Admission, Free for students with Harvard ID
The 2024-2025 season is RCS’ 125th Anniversary Season! Please join us in Cambridge, MA on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, 2025 for 125th anniversary festivities!
Friday, May 2, 2025: RCS concert in Sanders Theatre at 8pm, preceded by a brief social gathering for RCS singers, alums, and friends.
Saturday, May 3, 2025:All-day RCS reunion celebration of the 125th anniversary, including a conducted sing of RCS music across the eras, participation by past musical directors, food, drink, and socializing.
If you have questions or are interested in volunteering, please email us at rcsf125@gmail.com.
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The May 31 event went off swimmingly! We had 55 attendees — alums from RCS years 1964-2024, lots of energy and socializing, terrific food, amazing singing, and a lot of positive sentiment going into the 125th anniversary year. We hope you’ll join us for May 2-3, 2025 next year!
Please attend the annual meeting this Saturday June 8, 1-2:15pm (ET) by Zoom. The agenda is forthcoming. We have a video of Anika Christensen ‘26 reflecting on the past season and a lot of good info to share about RCS’s 125th Anniversary, and the next season with ADCA Hana Cai.
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Calling all Radcliffe Choral Society alums! Join fellow choristers to kick off our commemoration of 125 years of soprano-alto choral music at Radcliffe and Harvard. Following the 4-Choir Sing including members of all Harvard Choruses (Memorial Church, 3-5pm), RCS alums and current students will gather for an early evening of song, socializing, and light refreshments, with 125th anniversary memorabilia available for all who join. Don’t miss this special alumni-weekend affair!
A Light in April is a combined concert of the Harvard Choruses featuring guest conductor Sydney Guillaume who will lead performances of his works. His intricate and spirited musical language, often calling on his roots in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, inspires the rest of the program, and calls us to celebrate our human connection and capacity for joy. Reserve free tickets here.
