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NEW UCHOIR ALUMNI GROUP
Harvard Alumni Association Approves UChoir SIG
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Dear UChoir alums,
I hope you are staying well during this strange time. It was a very odd end to the academic year for our students — as well as for everyone else — and it is unclear when we will be able to make music together once again, which is a very difficult realization.
A few days ago, I Zoomed with members of the UChoir alumni committee, tirelessly chaired by Jim Farmer. The committee includes folks from all eras of the Choir. I am happy to announce that the Harvard University Choir Alumni is now a Shared Interest Group (SIG) through the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA). This has been many years in the process, and I am delighted that it has been approved finally (again, many thanks to Jim and the committee, as well as to Chuck Beaudrot for his legal expertise in drafting the bylaws). The end result is that communication will be centrally administered through the new SIG, which is supported by the HAA and its myriad resources.
The goal of such a group is to be as comprehensive as possible and, to that end, we are hoping to reconnect with as many “lost members” as we can: any help you can give in locating these alums (see "Missing List" below) would be much appreciated. Jim Farmer gives further explanation of the SIG in his piece.
UChoir Reunion
Inevitably, we must postpone our UChoir reunion, scheduled for this coming October. The purpose of this weekend of music-making and merriment was to be threefold: to celebrate our incredible institution; to welcome a new Pusey Minister; and to inaugurate the Ferris Fellows. It is still unclear whether Harvard will have any on-campus activities during the fall (the indications suggest not, though a decision will be announced during the coming weeks) but, regardless, it would be neither the appropriate nor the responsible time for such a gathering. In addition, the wonderful news that Professor Stephanie Paulsell will continue as Interim Pusey Minister until June 2021 means that we will not have a new Pusey Minister to welcome until the fall of 2021. It is our intention to hold the reunion in the fall of 2021 with the caveat that we simply don’t know what long-term implications the current pandemic will hold for such a timeline.
Ferris Fellows Campaign
The fundraising for the Ferris Fellows is going strongly, and I would urge you to contribute to that worthy appeal if you have not already done so.
In the meantime, we are continuing to broadcast services on Sundays at 11 am on WHRB 95.3 FM, including a selection of archival music from the Harvard University Choirs of yesteryears: I hope you might be able to tune in to some of these broadcasts.
With very best wishes and stay safe and well,
Edward Elwyn Jones
Gund University Organist and Choirmaster
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FROM JAMES FARMER
President, Harvard University Choir SIG
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For those of you who may not already be familiar with SIGs at Harvard, you can find more information, including a listing of Harvard SIGs, at the Harvard Alumni Association website
The purpose of the UChoir Alumni SIG is to enhance the sense of community among the more than 1,300 former Harvard students, former Harvard employees, and all others who have, at one time or another, been part of the Harvard University Choir. We want to keep you posted about opportunities to gather, virtually or otherwise, to participate in our shared history and in the choir's ongoing activities. We also want to facilitate staying in touch with each other and sharing news.
To that end, we will be creating new channels of communication for this community. In time, the SIG will have a website, though HAA tells us that it may be the fall or winter of 2020 before the website is fully operational. We will also have a Facebook page, which we hope to have available soon.
Until our website and Facebook page are operational (or thereafter, for that matter), please feel free to contact any of the SIG's initial Board of Directors with your questions, suggestions, news, or general thoughts:
Alexandra D. Amati, AM ’91, PhD ‘94, Vice President
Mary M. Beekman, AB ‘75, Clerk/Secretary
Wesley C. Chinn, AB ‘98
Thomas F. Cooke, II, AB ‘82
James B. Farmer, AB ’69, JD ‘75, President
Marisa W. Green, AB ‘04, Treasurer
Edward Elwyn Jones, Gund Organist and Choirmaster (ex officio)
Roy F. Knight, AB ’63, MAR ‘67
Adriana C. Pohl, AB ‘14
Murray F. Somerville, former Gund Organist and Choirmaster
Want to Participate?
We plan, over time, to increase the size of the Board to be as broadly and diversely representative of the choir alums as possible. So, if you are interested in being actively involved in the SIG, please let one or more of the Board members know. We welcome and need your participation! If you have thoughts concerning the website, please pass them along to Wesley C. Chinn and Adriana C. Pohl. If you have thoughts concerning the Facebook page, please pass them along to Marisa Green.
Preserving Our History
We also want to preserve your evidence of our choir's storied history. We would love to receive any UChoir memorabilia (photos, programs, recordings, etc.), in DIGITAL FORMAT ONLY for now. Please send any such material to Carson Cooman at Memorial Church. Decisions will then be made as to storage, format, and access to the materials.
Reconnecting Uchoir Alumni
Please also review the list of Choir alums for whom we have no contact information. We very much want to include all the Choir family in future communications. If you have contact information (particularly email addresses and phone numbers) for any of these folks, please pass the information along to Jim Farmer.
A Passing
And, finally, please send us news — the joyous and the sad — of our Choir family so that it can be shared. In that spirit, we are thankful to Gwyn Loud for passing along news of the May 2 death in Connecticut of Deborah Schubert Tenney, who sang with the Choir from 1965 through at least 1970. Many of you will recall Debbie's cheerful personality and lovely alto voice. Indeed, many of us will particularly recall her wonderful account of the alto solo in Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, forever enshrined on the record of the December 3, 1967 service dedicating the (then) new Fisk organ in Appleton Chapel. We send our heart-felt condolences to Debbie's family. Should you wish to send personal messages to Debbie's family, you may contact Mike, Ali, and Liz.
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