20/06/2026
The 13th collaboration between the Harvard Glee Club and Kyoto University Glee Club “Old Boys” Alumni Choruses was a great success! We had a week of intensive and productive rehearsals, mixed with good food and socializing. One of the major highlights was a day-long excursion to New Bedford, MA, organized by Chuck Smiler ‘67 and Phil Sheldon ‘77, where we learned about its rich history of fishing and whaling, as well as being the home of the first Japanese citizen to ever live in the US in the mid 1800s (Nakahama “John” Manjiro -- a fascinating story of a man who seemed to be driven by pure willpower). The day was capped off by a delicious Portuguese dinner at a local restaurant where we were truly made to feel like we were part of their family.
The concert at First Church in Cambridge on June 13 was fantastic. KGC’s solo set, conducted by Megumi Fujino, included rousing folksongs from Britain (“I’ve Got Sixpence” and “Sailing, Sailing”), Mexico (“Carmen Carmela”), and Poland (“Lift a Glass to Friendship”), along with a couple of mellifluous songs from composer Takehiko Tada (“Tsuyu no Harema” and “Ame”), and finished off with the Renaissance motet “Adoramus Te” by Clement.
HGC, led by Dr. Harris Ipock, followed with the spiritual “Gone Home” (featuring a powerful solo by Larry Huynh ‘97), leading right into the hymn “Come, Ye Disconsolate.” The next song was a complete change of pace, the energetic Ghanaian folksong “Kpanlongo”, featuring Christian Collins ‘95, Mark Braiman ‘77, and Terry McGinty ‘02 on percussion. The HGC favorite “Loch Lomond” followed (in a spirited arrangement that was new to many of us), with a heartfelt solo by George Reardon ‘78. The final piece of HGC’s solo set was “I’ll Be on My Way”, a beautiful piece born from tragedy but filled with hope, with a soaring solo by Brent Blackaby ‘96.
We were fortunate to have the magnificent Jameson Singers as our guest group (founded, of course, by HGC legend Dr. Jameson Marvin, and led for many years by former HGC Associate Conductor Dr. Kevin Leong). Their set included the madrigal “Lay a Garland on Her Hearse”, the Steven Sametz piece “Munus”, a fantastic arrangement of “Shenandoah” reminiscent of Jim Marvin’s classic version, and the Schütz “Selig sind die toten.” The Jameson Singers’ sound was marvelously rich and crystalline.
The combined KGC/HGC set started with a hymn-like arrangement of Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, followed by the show-stopping “Come and Go to That Land”, both conducted by Dr. Ipock. Then KGC’s Masahiro Fujita led the combined choruses in “Shu wa Watashi no Hitsujikai” (a powerful setting of the 23rd Psalm) and another reliable show-stopper, “Mogamigawa Funa Uta” (with perennial boatman Peter Finch ‘87 joining Masayasu Watanabe as soloists).
The concert closed with all 3 choruses combining to sing an SSATTBB arrangement of -- what else? -- Biebl’s “Ave Maria.” In this arrangement, the SSA voices sang the trio, evoking the sound of angels. Simply transcendent!
Throughout the concert, impeccable piano accompaniment was provided by Tomoko Watanabe and Geoff Kannan ‘99. (Huge kudos to Geoff for stepping into the very large shoes of longtime accompanist Dr. Bernie Kreger ‘59, who was sadly unable to participate this year.)
The post-concert celebration at The Sheraton Commander was full of laughter, libations, and of course, some impromptu singing. Dr. Bernie Kreger was honored by Kuniharu Kitagawa (who, along with Bernie, were two of the seminal members that started this whole collaboration back in 1990). Another of the founding members from KGC, Akira Kohsaka, spoke about our history and showed the original concert program from the 1967 HGC tour that originally inspired KGC.
In all, this joint concert was another reminder of how powerful and meaningful our time with HGC was and continues to be. Our shared experience and music creation build lasting bridges, not only between our own members, but also across oceans to the other side of the world. We look forward to our next collaboration, hoping to see familiar faces again, as well as brand new ones!
-- William Cheng ‘92
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