HRCM:
An Introduction

The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, a student-run organization at Harvard College, is a select ensemble of musicians and students dedicated to the highest caliber of both a cappella and choral-orchestral masterworks performances. Spanning nearly five octaves and six centuries, our diverse repertoire has delighted audiences around the world, most recently in Australia, where the Collegium spent its 35th anniversary tour.

Singers in HRCM are also given the opportunity to perform with our two subset ensembles, the Chamber Singers, a smaller ensemble that specializes in Renaissance works, and the Collegium Underground, focusing on a cappella classics.

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History of the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum

Harvard's distinguished undergraduate mixed chorus, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, was founded in the fall of 1971 to coincide with the coeducational merger of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges. Initially conceived as a chamber ensemble of singers from the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society, the Collegium's popularity mushroomed the ensemble to its present size of sixty voices.

Numerous outstanding performances followed under the direction of F. John Adams, leading to critical acclaim on their seven-week bicentennial tour of Western Europe.

Under the direction of Jameson Marvin since 1978, the Collegium performs a distinctive repertoire of a cappella and concerted works encompassing six centuries of choral genres, and has achieved special recognition for the performance of music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The group's recordings of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 (1981, 1996), and performances of concerted works of Schütz (1984, 1985), Monteverdi (1991, 1995, 2004), the Bach St. Matthew Passion (1989, 2002), St. John Passion (1982, 1992, 2000), and B Minor Mass (1985, 1993) have earned the ensemble a reputation as a "remarkable choir" (Boston Globe).

Each year the Collegium performs symphonic choral works and a cappella masterpieces from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Recent performances in Sanders Theatre, Harvard's main performance venue, have included Mozart's Mass in C Minor, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and motets by Hildegard, Josquin, Brahms, Schütz, and Poulenc.

The Collegium's membership is made up of students from all areas of Harvard's curriculum, both undergraduate and graduate. Most singers are not music majors, and do not plan on music-related careers, although many are experienced musicians.

Seven international tours-Northern Europe (1976), two Mediterranean tours (1981, 1999), the West Coast of the United States and Canada (1986), Mexico (1991), Great Britain (1995), and France and the Iberian Peninsula (2003)-have garnered the group critical acclaim: "Their intonation, balanced tone, and pinpoint ensemble delight the ear." (San Francisco Chronicle).

The Collegium continues its tradition of excellence under the direction of Dr. Jameson Marvin, associate conductor Dr. Kevin Leong, and assistant conductor Jeff Grossman.