Sing for Your World Tour

If, like the Harvard Krokodiloes, you believe nunc est cantandum--now is the time to sing--then now may be the time to join.

Becoming a member of Harvard's oldest a cappella singing group means performing over 150 concerts a year. It means singing for leaders foreign and domestic and for charities like the American Red Cross or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. And for this year's group of Kroks, it meant entertaining at several Ryder Cup events.

The all-male singing group, which was founded in 1946 at the Hasty Pudding Club on 12 Holyoke St., has recorded 21 albums featuring their repertoire of jazz, swing ballads and '50s rock.

It's what Kroks General Manager George W. Hicks '00 calls "the great music of America."

Members also enjoy the perks of a close relationship with Upstairs at the Pudding, the popular and pricey Square restaurant. The group regularly performs there for Sunday brunch crowds and is often called upon for other special occasions. And the long hours of singing and crooning are sometimes rewarded with a sampling of the Pudding's famous fare.

The Kroks are also members of another Pudding affiliate--the coed social organization that goes by the same name.

"It's a great place to meet people," Hicks says.

So is Bermuda, where the Kroks spend every spring break with the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the Radcliffe Pitches, Harvard's all-female a cappella group. And every summer, the group embarks on a 10-week world tour.

"You will go around the world for free," Hicks says. "You will more importantly, meet people around the world who you will be friends with and have contacts with for the rest of your life."

Hicks said he has enjoyed talking to people from different countries about various possibilities for his future.

"[Joining the Kroks] is something that will, to be honest, change your life. I honestly don't think there's any hyperbole in that," Hicks said. "It's a camaraderie built on song, humor and essentially a brotherhood that extends back for decades and will continue forth for decades."