By Cassie Ferguson

Gazette Staff

"The world can always use more musicians. A good musician is self-motivated, disciplined, can communicate with both the heart and the head, and solve problems. They're perfect citizens," contends Professor of Music Thomas Kelly.

If he's right, over the past 25 years, Harvard College has become a musical model society.

Since 1973, the number of undergraduate orchestras has expanded from two to five, choruses from two to eight, and popular singing groups from two to nine, according to the Office for the Arts at Harvard and Radcliffe.

Students have propagated most of the growth. "It's amazing how much of the initiative is student-driven," says Kelly. "There's a creative disarray at Harvard, and things happen out of a passion for music."

James Yannatos, senior lecturer on music and conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra for 34 years, says that when students need a new venue for their talents, they'll go ahead and create one. For example, he says, "Originally there was just the first [Harvard-Radcliffe] orchestra. Then there was a need for more diversity, and the students asked to start new orchestras, like the Mozart Society and the Toscanini Chamber Orchestra, which gives students a chance to conduct."

Notes Eric Tipler '99, student conductor of the Bach Society Orchestra, "It's a fantastic opportunity to lead a great group of musicians that rarely exists anywhere else, not even for doctoral students at conservatories."

Orchestra members form just a fraction of all the student musicians. On any weekend, performances at Harvard range from the cultural rhythms of the Kuumba Singers to the toe-tapping tunes of the Harvard University Jazz Band. On a given night, Sanders Theatre might be hosting an a cappella night of the Din & Tonics, Paine Hall may be filled with crooning Callbacks, and Dunster House might serve as the setting for a rehearsal of Don Giovanni.

Harvard hosts a small but lively independent music scene as well, with undergraduates forming rock bands with names like Flubber, Swedish Cookie, and Steamship of Beef.

Talented individuals also abound, such as marimba virtuoso Mary Kissel '99, champion Irish fiddle player Brendan Bulger '98, and Anne Charity '98, who has sung with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

"One of the attractions of coming here is that students can have good academic training and take part in a very rich, diverse, and active musical culture," says Yannatos.

According to the undergraduate Admissions Office, one in three students admitted lists musical experience on their applications. That number does not include the leagues of four-chord guitarists, shower divas, or all the members of the new Beatles Appreciation Society, which aims to lure Paul, Ringo, and George to Harvard Yard.

Archie Epps, Dean of Students and a former Glee Club leader, suggests the quality of musical life is directly connected to the quality of the students. He says, "Essentially, the College has increased in musical opportunities in response to the talent admitted to it."

Tipler of the Bach Society says, "It's characteristic of Harvard students that they can manage to find time to practice and go to rehearsals."

Myra Mayman, director of the Office for the Arts, finds academics and music to be a harmonious combination.

"If students have the energy, talent, and smarts, it doesn't surprise me that they can be both brilliant mathematicians and musicians," she states. "They've created an extremely lively musical life at Harvard. There are roughly 550 concerts a year, and 1,000 musicians perform in Sanders Theatre alone."

The Office for the Arts contributes to the polyphony by providing several monetary prizes and $25,000 per year in grants. Since the University does not have its own staff of music teachers, the Office also offers referrals to local instructors and subsidizes lessons.

"One of our intents is to connect students to the rich musical community of Boston," says Mayman.

Through various visiting artist programs, the Office for the Arts also connects students with big names outside of Boston, like cellist Yo-Yo Ma '76 and singer Bonnie Raitt '72. The artists teach workshops, master classes, and give lecture demonstrations during their visits.

Support for musical arts sprouts from other sources as well. The Office of the Dean of Harvard College occasionally pitches in for causes like new percussion instruments for the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, and the Undergraduate Council offers funds for student groups.

The only thing tempering the musical movement is a lack of space where the growing numbers of student musicians can rehearse or perform. The recent transformation of Lowell Hall into performance space has helped ease the crunch, as has this fall's addition of a practice room in the basement of Wigglesworth Hall.

More students have become interested in the academic side of music as well, with the numbers of music concentrators steadily rising. Even those with no plans to study music usually wind up taking one of the music department's popular Core courses, such as Professor Robert Levin's course, Chamber Music from Mozart to Ravel.

"It's not a surprise that the music department numbers are growing," says Kelly. "As far as I'm concerned, the more musicians that come to Harvard, the better a place Harvard will be."