The Harvard Krokodiloes Explained
The Harvard Krokodiloes ("The Kroks") are Harvard University's oldest a cappella singing group, founded in 1946. The group consists of twelve tuxedo-clad undergraduates, and they bill their repertoire as "songs from the Great American Songbook and beyond."[1]
The group has performed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Good Morning America, National Public Radio, and on numerous international national television programs. Every January, the Krokodiloes travel across the USA singing for various private and public concerts, and each summer, the Krokodiloes travel around the world on an eleven-week, six-continent tour. They have recorded 31 albums.
They derive their name from the ancient Greek word for crocodile, krokodilos. The group's motto is Nunc Est Cantandum, or “Now is the time to sing.”[2]
History
The Kroks were founded in 1946, when four members of the Hasty Pudding Club, popular for its drag musical theatre productions, began singing popular hits of their time in four-part harmony.
The Krokodiloes have performed around the world for hosts including Ella Fitzgerald, Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Caroline of Monaco, the Aga Khan, and King Bhumibol of Thailand. They had a particularly close relationship with Leonard Bernstein, who became friends with the group first in 1973, when he composed a setting to an E. E. Cummings poem "if you can't eat." In 1983 Bernstein wrote an original song for the group, "Screwed On Wrong," and provided an introductory letter that helped launch the group's first annual international summer tour.[3]
Since 1989 the group has appeared four times at Carnegie Hall, debuting there to a sold-out audience in 1989 at a concert to benefit world hunger, in the spring of 1995 in an American Red Cross benefit, in May 1998 in a concert for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and most recently at Zankel Hall in March 2008.[4]
In 1993, the Kroks performed as the opening act at the New England Inaugural Ball celebrating the inauguration of US President Bill Clinton.[5]
In 1997, the Kroks performed at the June 30 Hong Kong handover ceremonies commemorating the return of Hong Kong to China.[6]
Notable alumni
Krokodiloes alumni are listed on the group's archive website.[7]
- Paris Barclay Emmy-winning television director
- Matthew Bohrer actor
- James Bundy, Tony Award-nominated director and current Dean of the Yale School of Drama
- Frank Cabot (one of the group's founders), horticulturist/author
- George Howe Colt, National Book Award-nominated author[8]
- Gregory Craig White House Counsel to Obama[9]
- Miles Fisher musician, actor
- William B. Gray public official
- Fred Gwynne, star of TV shows Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, and such films as My Cousin Vinny
- Winthrop Jordan National Book Award winner[10]
- W. Leo Kiely CEO, MillerCoors[11]
- William F. Kuntz II, United States district judge
- Peter Lerangis children's author
- Ryan Leslie, producer, recording artist
- George C. Lodge, former assistant secretary of labor for international affairs in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations
- Stuart Malina, Tony Award-winning music director and orchestrator for the Broadway musical Movin' Out
- Laurence O'Keefe, composer-lyricist for musicals such as Legally Blonde (for which he received a Tony Award-nomination) and
- Mark O'Keefe screenwriter
- James A. Paul, writer
- Fred Reichheld best-selling business-book author
- David Rockefeller, Jr. philanthropist
- Austin Weber, Thomas T. Hoopes Prize winning musician and artist
- Joshuah Campbell, Grammy- and Oscar-nominated composer [12]
- Michael Mitnick, playwright [13]
- Matthew Guard, director of Skylark Vocal Ensemble and three-time Grammy nominee [14]
- Daniel Pearle, playwright and screenwriter [15]
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.kroks.com/about About the Harvard Krokodiloes.
- http://www.kroks.com/history History of the Harvard Krokodiloes, from the group’s website.
- http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/10.19/01-bernstein.html Ireland, Corydon. "Three-day extravaganza fetes Bernstein." Harvard University Gazette, 2006-10-19.
- http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_11221.html?selecteddate=03092008 Notice of 2008 Carnegie Hall performance.
- News: Pustilnik. Amanda C.. January 6, 1993. Kroks Invited to Sing At Clinton Inauguration. The Harvard Crimson. February 3, 2022.
- Web site: Records of the Harvard Krokodiloes. February 3, 2022. HOLLIS for Archival Discovery.
- Web site: Krok Archives: Alumni and In Memoriam . 2019-10-30.
- http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2003_finalistpr_bios2.html George Howe Colt, 2003 National Book Award Finalist: Nonfiction
- Politico.com (2008). Exclusive: Gregory Craig to be White House counsel. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
- http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/27579.html History News Network Interview
- http://www.millercoors.com/Portals/0/documents/LeoKiely.pdf Leo Kiely, MillerCoors Company bio
- Web site: Grammy and Oscar-nominated composer Joshuah Brian Campbell joins Wake Forest University . 23 July 2021 .
- https://www.michaelmitnick.com/
- https://www.grammy.com/artists/matthew-guard/243275
- Web site: Daniel Pearle . .
