Radcliffe Pitches Prepare to Celebrate 40th Anniversary

A cappella singing is now such a quintessential—if not downright omnipresent—part of the college experience that it is easy to imagine that the students of Harvard have always been making music with their mouths. While it’s true that the boys have been doing it since 1946, when the Harvard Krokodiloes were founded, it wasn’t until the establishment of the Radcliffe Pitches in 1975 that the girls got their chance to join in. On March 28, the Pitches will celebrate their 40th anniversary in a concert featuring old and new alike: Both the current and founding members of the Pitches will perform.

In 1975, Kathy E. Manning ’78 and Diane L. Nabatoff ’78 decided that they, too, wanted to perform a cappella—so under the auspices of the Hasty Pudding Club, they formed the Radcliffe Pitches. That their name rhymes with an epithet sometimes used to describe Radcliffe women is no accident. Manning laughs in recollection: “We actually had a competition for the name because we had no idea what to call ourselves. When we heard the name ‘Radcliffe Pitches’ and how close it was to a very negative stereotype, we actually liked that. We viewed ourselves as being independent and competitive and wanted something that was gutsy, tough, and strong.”

Guts, toughness, and strength are evident in Manning’s retelling of an early Pitches concert. “During graduation, we sang with the Kroks at an oyster roast for seniors,” she says. “The Kroks sang first, and then we sang the only three songs we knew. It was so well-received that the audience wanted us to do an encore, and not knowing any other songs, we sang the same three songs over again.” From there, the Pitches ascended the scale of a cappella success. The next spring, after expanding their repertoire and gaining experience performing, the Pitches were invited by the Kroks to the stage of Sanders Theatre. The following fall, the Pitches hosted their own jam; soon, they released a record and went on tour.

According to Manning, the Radcliffe Pitches offered Harvard women a chance to excel at a cappella singing in a welcoming and encouraging setting. “People loved being in the group, not just because the music was so great but because it offered a kind of camaraderie and working together in a way that was very different from the day to day competition of Harvard we experienced back then,” she says. Manning also speaks highly of the Pitches as a supportive group at a time when fewer women attended the college. “This group was a great place to build friendships, work together, and develop leadership skills.”

Forty years later, the Pitches retain their strong sense of identity as a proudly all-female group. “Some think that only all-male groups can be the most elite singing groups, but we continue to show every day, when we sing and perform, that women’s groups can have really incredible sounds as well,” says Jenny H. Chang ’16, the current president of the Pitches.

Heather E. desJardins-Park ’15, the Pitches’ music director, agrees. “As a musician, there is something really different and rewarding about singing in an all-women’s group. While you don’t have the same range of voices, it is really cool when you can still achieve the same depth of sound,” she says.

Preparing for a concert that both showcases the current Pitches and celebrates the group’s history is no easy feat. They’ve added 17 new songs to their repertoire this semester rather than their customary 12, according to Chang and desJardins-Park, and have also had to take on the additional task of reaching out to the original Pitches of 1975.

But for all their time spent rehearsing and organizing the concert, the Pitches find their work far from grueling. In conducting alumnae outreach, Pitches stage manager Katie F. G. Wu ’17, says of speaking to the former Pitches, “Stories like [theirs] are in the background of all the work that we do and all the experiences we have as members of the group, so to really have a tangible feel of those memories and traditions is a special thing.”

Chang, desJardins-Park, Manning, and Wu all agree that being part of the Pitches has been an important and rewarding part of their time at Harvard. While the group has grown and changed over the past 40 years—from expanding its repertoire of jazzy standards to include some contemporary music to adding international tours to its schedule—its original mission is still central to its work. “To this day,” Chang says, “we are creating a community of strong women who work together to create and share music.”