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Activities at the Summer School

This page contains content from the Summer School 2009. For current information, visit the Harvard Summer School website at www.summer.harvard.edu.

Harvard Summer School offers a rich array of free films, concerts, dances, social gatherings, lectures, and athletic activities. As summer 2009 draws near, an activities calendar will be posted in this section. In addition to campus activities, the Boston area is filled with many opportunities for enjoyment.

Harvard athletics

As a Summer School student, you can participate in an extensive athletics program. Here are just a few of the highlights:

In addition, canoe and kayak rentals are available near campus.

Music

Students may participate in a variety of musical opportunities.

Harvard Summer Pops Band

The band, led by Harvard University Band Director Thomas G. Everett, is open without audition to all brass, woodwind, and percussion players from both Harvard and the Greater Boston area, regardless of age or experience. No audition necessary. Interested wind, brass, and percussion players are advised to come to the first rehearsal with instrument and, if possible, a folding music stand.

Beginning Wednesday, June 24, rehearsals are Wednesdays from 7:15 to 9:30 pm in Sanders Theatre. Concerts will be held Thursday, July 23, at 4 pm in Harvard Yard on the Memorial Church steps and Sunday, July 26, at 3 pm at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade. The Harvard Summer Pops Band will be performing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s song Phantom of the Opera, Moorside March by Gustav Holst, Pavanne by Morton Gould, Handel’s Water Music, and Armenian Dances by Aram Khachaturian.

For more information, call (617) 496-BAND (2263), see the Harvard Summer Pops Band 2009 website, or e-mail meolson@fas.harvard.edu.

Harvard Summer School Chorus

The chorus, under the direction of Jameson Marvin, Harvard University’s director of choral activities, is open by audition to all Greater Boston community singers and Harvard Summer School students. The chorus performs choral masterworks. Auditions will be held in Holden Chapel from 1:30 to 4 pm on Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21; and from 5 to 9 pm on Monday, June 22.

Beginning Tuesday, June 23, rehearsals are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 to 9:45 pm, in Sanders Theatre, with an additional rehearsal the week of the concert. The concert will be held in Sanders Theatre on Friday, July 31, at 8 pm. The Harvard Summer School Chorus will sing with professional orchestra and soloists and perform two festive works in honor of the 2009 celebrations of Handel and Haydn: Handel’s Chandos Anthem: O Praise the Lord with One Consent and Haydn’s Missa Cellensis in C, the Mariazeller-Messe.

For more information, contact Jameson Marvin via e-mail at jmarvin@fas.harvard.edu.

Harvard Summer School Orchestra

The orchestra, under the direction of Judith Zuckerman, is open by audition to anyone of any age. No Harvard affiliation is required, but participating musicians must be available for the entire Summer School term. The orchestra comprises approximately 60 players and performs works from the classical repertoire. The orchestra forms anew each summer and has openings for the following instruments: flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, violin, viola, cello, and contrabass. 

Auditions will be held in Memorial Hall from 5 to 9 pm Tuesday, June 23 through Thursday, June 25. The first rehearsal will be Monday, June 29. Audition requirements: one prepared piece of the auditionee’s choice and sight-reading excerpts from our planned program.

Beginning June 29, rehearsals are Mondays from 6:30 to 9 pm in Sanders Theatre. The concert will be held in Sanders Theatre on Saturday, August 1, at 8 pm. The orchestra will play Bartok’s Rumanian Dances, Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major (with oboe soloist, Keisuke Wakao from the Boston Symphony Orchestra), and Haydn’s Symphony no. 104.

For more information, call (781) 899-4335 or e-mail hsso@verizon.net.

Writing

The Summer School hosts a number of readings from popular and local authors, including Harvard faculty, around Harvard Square. In the past there have been readings from Paul Harding, author of the novel Tinkers; Tom Perrotta, author of the novel Little Children; and Christina Thompson, the author of Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story.

Additionally, Harvard Summer School students can contribute to the Harvard Summer Review, a literary journal published once a year. The following issues are available to read: Summer 2007, Summer 2006, Summer 2005.

Around Boston

The city of Boston, across the Charles River, has many cultural, historic, and scientific institutions. Dance, music, and theater also flourish. The Boston Pops Orchestra gives free concerts each summer on the Esplanade along the Charles River, and there are a number of parks and trails in the city.

Beyond Boston

The Summer School also sponsors trips to Cape Cod; the mansions of Newport, Rhode Island; the beaches and shopping centers in Maine; and Tanglewood in western Massachusetts—the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Information and schedules for these trips are available at the Activities Fair, held the Sunday of Opening Weekend. You can sign up for these activities at the fair or in the Activities Office throughout the summer.