The Smith College Clef Club
A name fairly unfamiliar to the ears of current Smithies, the Smith College Clef Club was developed for the talented student composers and music performers in Smith’s music department, and existed approximately between the years of 1902 to 1953. As stated in a press release announcing the accepted new members in April 1934, “The club is organized to further interest and composition in music. It is composed of active members who have submitted an original composition for membership, and associate members who are admitted on the basis of their instrumental or vocal performance.”1) Further records indicate the rigor and the great honor of being selected to join the group. The report of the 1935 induction describes the inductees as “undergraduates who have shown unusual ability and proficiency in the field of music”2), and selection to the group is based on “competitive try-outs.”3)
Throughout the year, the Clef Club would sponsor concerts, at which the students would perform for an audience, very often their own compositions. The group must have disbanded after 1953, as the group is not listed in the yearbook further.
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