Donna M. Di Grazia knows she is the steward of a choral tradition that dates from a time when the faculty milked their own cows, when the Choral Union was established in the five-room cottage that first housed the College.

"I have a real responsibility to maintain a proud tradition for the choral program," says Di Grazia, associate professor of music and choral conductor since 1998. "That's my goal, not only for the College, but also for the students who come through here during my guardianship of the program. I take it very seriously."

Pomona is one of a number of eminent colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Oberlin, with a choral emphasis attributable in part to their early affiliations with churches in which choirs played a role.

"A visitor on the Pomona campus finds here a veritable temple of music," Frank P. Brackett, a professor of astronomy and one of Pomona's first choral directors in the late 1800s, said in his Pomona history, Granite and Sagebrush.

Brackett's successors have contributed to that legacy. Three stand out because of their many years of distinguished service: Ralph "Prof" Lyman, who conducted the Men's Glee Club from 1917 to 1948, the Women's Glee Club from 1931 to 1948, and the College Choir, which he founded, from 1920 to 1948; William F. Russell, conductor of all three groups from 1951 to 1982; and Jon Bailey, who succeeded Russell and was Di Grazia's predecessor. Under Bailey, the men's and women's glee clubs were merged.

"It's unusual to have the longevity of choral directors we've had at Pomona," says Graydon Beeks '69, director of music programming and facilities and professor of music--and also a former president of the Men's Glee Club.

It's not a position for the faint of heart. "The choir is the largest ensemble at the College, and the choral director is probably the most visible person in the Music Department," Beeks says.

But other factors in addition to the choral conductor contribute substantially to the strength of the College ensembles. "Our success is attributable to a great degree to the success of the Admissions Office in identifying highly qualified scholars who also bring musical talent to this community," says Di Grazia.

Jocelyn Burke '02, a member of the choir since her freshman year, describes Di Grazia as a conductor "with a firm hand that's also kind. She sets very high standards, but those standards improve the quality of the music that we perform." Burke says her membership in the choir has yielded benefits beyond becoming a more accomplished singer. "I've been able to sing great pieces, the great classics, things I never would have been able to do otherwise," she says. "I've learned about vocabulary and pronunciation in different languages, including German, Latin and Italian. Plus, I've been able to sing with a bunch of really great people."

Burke's experience exemplifies one of Di Grazia's goals as inheritor of the mantle.

"I think it's an incredible privilege to be a choral conductor here," she says. "Choral music has the benefit of drawing upon language, history and art and it requires interpretation and personal contribution. It is a quintessential liberal arts experience. And I hope our students can leave their college years with the sense of, 'I did that. I did that!'"

--Michael Balchunas