Three Groups Sing 'Requiem'

The Harvard Glee Club, the Radcliffe Choral Society (RCS) and the Harvard Radcliffe Collegium Musicum performed Johannes Brahms' "German Requiem" yesterday evening before a packed audience in Sanders Theatre.

Last night's concert will be repeated on April 20--the centennial of Brahms' death--in the Alice Tully Hall at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Loh-Sze Y. Leung '97, president of RCS, expressed her excitement about both of the upcoming performances in a pre-concert interview yesterday.

"Brahms' requiem is such a beautiful piece of music and it's neat to see how well the music and the text fit together," Leung said.

Unlike some of his contemporaries, Brahms arranged his own text rather than adapting an existing one to his music.

Collegium Manager Emily T. Kuo '97 was enthusiastic about the New York concert, saying she hopes it will improve the visibility of the Harvard-Radcliffe choirs.

Kuenley Chiu '97, a baritone in the Glee Club, said the year as a whole has been characterized by change and growth.

"It's been a year where we have planned a lot of big festivals," Chiu said.

Among the major events at which the Glee Club plans to perform are the Brahms festival this spring and the Festival of American Men's Choirs, Chiu said.

In the past, the Festival of American Men's Choirs has drawn to the Harvard campus choir groups from universities across the country in a celebration of choral music, Chiu said.

In addition to the excitement generated by recent activities, there have been changes within the administrative structure as well, Leung said.

Next year the director of choral activities at the University of Virginia, Constance de Fotis, will become associate director of choral activities at Harvard.

DeFotis will assist Jameson Marvin, who has long been the sole director for all three choirs.