Busy Weekend for A Cappella Groups: Pitches Celebrate Anniversary; Callbacks Win Quarterfinals

Twenty-five years ago, Kathy E. Manning '78 wanted to sing in an a cappella group. And since there were no groups that included females, she started her own: the Radcliffe Pitches.

On Friday night, Manning and 60 alumnae of the Pitches joined current members on Sanders Theatre's stage for the organization's 25th anniversary.

New and old members closed the show singing "You'd Be Surprised," after performing for over an hour. The concert was hosted by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles and opened with the Din & Tonics, an all-male a cappella group.

"The Pitches are a lot more than a singing group," said Eden Riegel '02, the group's president. "Even though the group changes every year, the spirit of the group lives on."

She said the Pitches' rich history and tradition were two of the main reasons behind the anniversary celebration.

At Friday's concert, 12 of the original members from its first years began the Pitches' show by singing one of their first songs, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

The Pitches hosted a reception following the concert and a lunch reunion at Upstairs at the Pudding Saturday afternoon.

Riegel said during Saturday's reunion, past and present Pitches sang every song in their common repertoire.

"It's incredible that you can mix groups of people from all different years that knew the same music and sing," she said. "It's really inspiring."

According to Riegel, the Krokodiloes, Harvard's oldest a cappella group, helped publicize and form the Pitches.

Callbacks Win Quarterfinals

At the same time that the Pitches were celebrating their past, the Harvard-Radcliffe Callbacks were preparing for a competition.

Yesterday, the Callbacks placed first at the National Championship of College A Cappella at the University of New Hampshire at Durham.

"Everyone worked together and finally after all that hard work we just managed to channel and use that energy to show everyone what we can do," said Megan L. Gaffney '02, the business manager for the Callbacks.

After winning the quarterfinals against New England schools, the Callbacks will compete in the regional competition this Friday. The winning group will then proceed to the national championship in New York.

This is the first time the Callbacks have placed first in the New England competition, and the group has high hopes for the upcoming championships, Gaffney said.

"We have been working so hard, and it has finally paid off in something tangible," she said. "This is our year."

In 1998, the group reached the semifinals, when several of the group's members were first years and sophomores. There was no official competition last year.

"It was definitely a milestone for this group. We were really excited about it," said James Y. Ko '00, president of the group.