ArtsFirst Continues in Rain

This weekend, Harvard’s campus was abuzz with theater, music, dance, film, and other displays of art as the Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA) held its 13th annual ARTS FIRST event.

The rain forced the cancellation of some portions of the event—such as Saturday’s parade and yesterday’s Band Fest—but most of the performances scheduled during the four-day event were able to continue as planned, and event organizers say that attendance was similar to previous years.

“It’s gone incredibly well, considering the rain,” said Jack Megan, the director of the OFA. “Participation was very high.”

One of the central parts of ARTS FIRST was the Performance Fair, held on Saturday afternoon.

The Fair consisted of performances every 30 minutes at 12 different locations around campus, including Sanders Theatre, Holden Chapel, and Memorial Church.

Only one of the 12 locations, a stage in Harvard Yard, had to be moved due to the rain, and all of the events scheduled for that stage were moved to Boylston Hall.

“It’s the centerpiece for a lot of people because it is free and you can see so much at the same time,” said ARTS FIRST Associate Project Manager Ingrid Schorr. “An audience member can see eight different performances at one location.”

Patrick W. Hosfield ’05, who was a conductor for one of the performances in Sanders Theatre on Saturday, said the event went well even if the rain did somewhat dampen the weekend.

“I thought it was really wonderful,” he said. “It was a little bit less exciting because of the weather...[but] the one thing I did in Sanders had a very good crowd.”

Thea A. Daniels ’05, a member of the Crimson Dance Team, performed twice in Lowell Hall and said the crowds were as large as she has seen in previous years.

“We watched a few of the numbers from the balcony [in between our two performances], and we had trouble finding seats,” she said. “I think it went fine.”

Other highlights of the weekend included the presentation of the Harvard Arts Medal to poet Maxine Kumin ’46, a 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday night for the Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, and Friday night’s presentation of Johannes Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” by the Harvard Glee Club, the Radcliffe Choral Society, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum.

“It was the kind of performance that would have made any conservatory of music absolutely proud,” Megan said of the Brahms performance.

Megan added that this is the first year he can remember rain causing any problem during the event, joking that it was because it was the 13th year.

“We should have skipped 13 and gone right to 14,” he said.

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.