Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra
Encyclopedia
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
symphony orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
comprising Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
students and based in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Founded in March 1808 as the Pierian Sodality, the orchestra is considered by some to be the oldest symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This is disputed by others because of the organization's somewhat informal beginnings (the original charter states that the intent of the Pierian Sodality is to "perform music for the enjoyment of others as well as serenade young women in the square"), and as a result, some consider the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
to be the oldest American orchestra. The HRO assumed its current form as a modern symphony orchestra during the first half of the 20th century, and was, for a brief time, the nation's largest collegiate orchestra.
The orchestra currently contains over 100 members, and is the largest of the orchestras at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(though at one point during its history, the orchestra contained only one member, a flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
named Henry Gassett). In general, only students of Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
are eligible for membership, though this rule is not absolute and has occasionally been waived when necessary, allowing students from the other Harvard schools to participate. The orchestra plays four season concerts every year in Sanders Theater
Sanders Theater
Sanders Theatre or Sanders Theater is the premiere lecture and concert hall at Harvard University. It is internationally known for its superior acoustics, which in New England are only surpassed by Jordan Hall, Mechanics Hall, Worcester, and Boston Symphony Hall.-History:Plans for the theater...
on Harvard's campus. It also sometimes gives children's concerts and regularly participates in the annual Arts First
Arts First
Arts First is a celebration held at Harvard University each May that includes performances or shows involving virtually every musical, theatrical, and artistic group on campus. It was founded by alum John Lithgow in 1994 as a festival honoring the enormous artistic community at Harvard, and has...
arts festival at Harvard. Its alumni board is still known as the Pierian Sodality of 1808.
From 1964 to 2009, the orchestra was led by James Yannatos
James Yannatos
James Yannatos was a composer, conductor, violinist and teacher. He was a senior lecturer at Harvard University until his retirement in the spring of 2009....
, a composer and member of the music faculty at Harvard. He retired after the 2008-2009 school year, and Federico Cortese
Federico Cortese
Federico Cortese has served as Music Director of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras since 1999. He is currently also the Music Director of the New England String Ensemble and the newly-appointed Conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra at Harvard University. In summer 2009, he was appointed...
assumed the post of Music Director as of July 1, 2009.
HRO has toured various places throughout its history, including South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and most recently, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. HRO has also performed in Carnegie Hall, and in 1978 placed third in the International Festival of Student Orchestras.