The Sextet

A recently formed all women band sponsored in part by the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) will perform for tae first time at a Quincy house dance tonight.

The new band, the Sextet, will share the stage with two prominent Boston bands--November Group and Del Fuego--at a dance sponsored by RUS and the Undergraduate Council.

RUS originally held auditions for the female group this fall has since given it two grants totalling over $200 and a loan of $900. RUS President Elizabeth Young `85 said this week.

Former RUS Vice President Julia S. Rubin `84 said this week that her purpose in starting a band was simply "to get women into professional music."

"I think it's hard for women to get into a band," she said, adding, "guys often feel a woman can't play an instrument seriously."

The band's five members are lead singer Regina F. Burch `84, guitarist Alison H. Brown `84, drummer Elainc L. Harris `84, percussionist Eve Sicular `83, and bass player Clea Waite, a junior at MIT.

All five band members have had considerable experience in music and have played in some sort of band in college or high school, although none of them have played in an all-women band before.

The band members agreed that the opportunities for a band of women were neither better nor worse than those for men in the music business. But they did remark that their competence was more often questioned because they are women.

What I've found said Brown, "is that people will listen to you trying to find faults more than they would listening to males."

The sextet's repertoire ranges from reggae tunes to rock and roll standards of the 60s They also perform original compositions.