Associate Choir Director Will Leave

Only months after Constance DeFotis won an uphill battle to secure her reappointment, the associate director of choral activities said she will leave Harvard next fall for a one-year stint at the College of William and Mary.

DeFotis, who conducted the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus (HRC) and co-conducted the Holden Choirs along with Director of Choral Activities Jameson N. Marvin, will serve as acting director of choral activities at William and Mary.

DeFotis said the opposition she faced during the reappointment process contributed to her decision to leave next year.

“There were a few outspoken students against me in the Holden Choirs, and along with [Marvin], they were able to convince the administration that it would be better that I don’t conduct them anymore,” she said.

Originally hired in 1996, DeFotis assisted Marvin as a rotating conductor for the Holden Choirs—composed of the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, the Harvard Glee Club and the Radcliffe Choral Society (RCS).

Additionally, DeFotis conducted the 150-member HRC—a group open to students as well as Faculty and community members.

However, the rotating conductor system generated discontent among the members of the Holden Choirs because of difficulties in adjusting to the divergent styles of Marvin and DeFotis.

“The rotation system didn’t work,” said Angelina L. Fryer ’02, former manager of RCS. “To switch off as often as the rotation system called for was too much.”

After an extensive reappointment process, DeFotis’ contract was renewed last semester for a two-year stint.

But an e-mail sent to the Holden Choirs and the HRC over Spring Break—signed by Marvin and Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth ’71—said the rotation system would be effectively suspended in 2002-2003.

The e-mail said DeFotis would retain her title, but would not conduct any of the three Holden Choirs next year—changes which Marvin characterized as minimal.

“We’re not ending any system,” he said yesterday. “There’s nothing new here.”

However, Jonah M. Knobler ’03, former manager of the Harvard Glee Club, said the change could be seen as a drop in status for DeFotis.

“It would be perceived as a demotion, not being able to conduct any of the three selective choirs,” Knobler said.

DeFotis, for her part, said she was optimistic about her upcoming year at William and Mary, where she will conduct all three of the school’s choirs, and will be paid a similar salary.

“I will have the opportunity to have more voice in the decision making,” she said, calling the system at Harvard “archaic.”

DeFotis said she hoped to return next summer to conduct the Summer Chorus, and would finish out her time at Harvard conducting the HRC, and possibly some smaller groups.

In the meantime, she said that Illingworth was looking for a replacement of “accomplishment” and “renown” to take over her duties with the HRC.

Illingworth was unavailable for comment this weekend.

—Staff writer Christopher M. Loomis can be reached at cloomis@fas.harvard.edu.