A Capella Groups Attract Growing Range of Voices

For most first-years, Orientation Week is a blur of placement tests, introductions, Crimson Key events--and a capella.

The year's opening a capella jam highlights the dizzying array of singing groups that has developed in recent years.

"When I came here twenty years ago there were two [a capella] groups and now there are about twelve," says Jameson C. Marvin, director of choral activities. "The growth started with the Din and Tonics, but it was around eight years ago when other groups really began to develop."

According to Marvin, the burst of musical enthusiasm was not coincidental. It occurred when the admissions office began to place a premium on artistic talent in applicants.

Now, he says, "more than a third of the freshman class has interest in music....I love to see a singing campus and it really has become that."

But the campus may be singing a different tune than it did when there were just a few, highly competitive groups on campus. Singers are increasingly turning toward groups like the Kuumba Singers and the Noteables, neither of which has cuts.

Former Kuumba Treasurer Jante C. Santos '99 attributes Kuumba's growth to word of mouth and positive experience.

"As more people begin to share and participate and attend concerts, there are people who love what they see and join the group because of that," she says.

"Kuumba is more like a family that happens to sing than a singing group," Santos says.

Unlike Kuumba, which has completely open membership, Under Construction, an evangelical Christian a capella group formed in the '80s, does hold auditions. But members maintain the group also has a non-competitive atmosphere.

"Our mission is basically to share with other people the message of hope that we really believe in," says group member Jennifer L. Stevens '98. "It's very important to us to sing what we believe. We also entertain, but we have this larger message...We focus on sharing with people and ministering to and serving people."

The nine-member group is "getting more recognized in the community," Stevens says.

Traditional Groups Thrive

The growing popularity of non-competitive groups does not seem to threaten the a capella establishment.

Older groups say they have not seen a drop in student attendance at their events. Roy Kosuge, President of the Opportunes and also a Crimson executive says "support for [the] group on campus has been growing, although maybe not at a terribly noticeable rate. Our jams have been packed with people."

And traditional groups say the newer groups are not competing with them for membership.

"Generally, speaking, they [non-competitive groups] draw on different types of people, and take from some people we wouldn't see," says Veritones President Dwight J. Porter '98. "To the extent that there is an overlap, it's a commonly held belief among a capella groups that people would choose the more traditional a capella groups over the less high profile groups."

The non-competitive groups seem to share in this assessment.

"I think Kuumba in particular caters to a community of people that would not otherwise be singing," Santos says.

According to Stevens, Under Construction also draws on people whose voice might otherwise go unheard.

"I had never heard of a capella before I joined Under Construction," she says.

The choral tradition at Harvard also seems unshaken by the a capella proliferation.

"My feeling is that in the course of the last ten years that there are just as many and perhaps even more singers for our groups," Marvin says.

Marvin attributes the choral program's continued success to its high vocal quality.

"I think the choral program here is very strong," he says. "In the United States, it's probably considered number one or two, frankly, and the students know it's high quality. It maintains a continuous interest."

But Marvin says he feels that the existing system of dividing talent could be improved if Harvard singing groups were to adopt a system like Yale's where a capella groups do not recruit first-year students, thereby leaving many to join the chorus.

He also advocates the establishment of a conductor's council, where the leaders of the close harmony groups and the choruses could meet and establish greater cooperation.

"What I would like to see personally is more students singing in the harmony groups being able to sing in the choral groups at the same time and vice versa," he adds.

Services for New Singers

The growth of non-competitive a capella may be a result of the increasing number of students interested in singing who lack the vocal preparation for traditional a capella.

"The slope of the curve in terms of musicianship and singing quality has declined over the past twenty years because support for arts in secondary schools has been cut," Marvin says.

Non-traditional a capella provides an avenue for less experienced singers, but the choral program has also moved to meet their needs.

"We started the Choir In Progress about 10 years ago, and the Harvard-Radcliffe chorus about 16 years ago, when we realized that there were a tremendous amount of singers not qualified for the other choruses," Marvin says.

And the campus' choral leader is optimistic about the proliferation of campus music groups.

"I am extremely excited to be a major conductor in a atmosphere where music is so loved by the students," he said.