Harvard students can rest assured they beat Art Garfunkel in some respect: They got in.

“Harvard at last,” the 1960s folk legend beamed to the 1,000-plus area fans packed into Sanders Theatre Friday night at WUMB Folk Radio’s 20th annual charity concert.

“It took me so many years to get here. You know I applied here after I got out of high school.” He paused, eyed his austere surroundings and said, “You rejected me.”

Helping to raise money for the country’s only all-folk radio station, Garfunkel—his big, frizzy brown mane peppered with gray—seemed comically out of place between Sanders’ marble statues.

“Everything waits to be noticed,” he quipped, the title of his latest album, recorded in cooperation with Buddy Mondlock and Maia Sharp.

The title comes from some of Garfunkel’s original prose, which he shared with the eager audience between sets.

He credited Mondlock for turning him into a songwriter, a position usually filled by Paul Simon, the other member of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.

Mondlock and Sharp played their own solos before intermission. After the break, the trio performed together, harmonizing their soulful, breathy voices while Mondlock strummed his acoustic guitar.

The audience’s energy hit its peak when Garfunkel sang his old hits, rewarding his performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with a standing ovation.

The performers said they were appreciative of the community.

“It’s such a thrill to see this project come to fruition, from our first writing session in early 2000 to our record released just this October to this live show,” Sharp said.

“And, the Cambridge audience offered a wonderful energy to inspire us,” she said.

WUMB Program Director Brian J. Quinn also praised the crowd, saying listener support is crucial to the station’s survival.

“For folk music, there’s no better community than the Cambridge area,” he said.

“And for folk music, Garfunkel is as legendary as you can get,” Quinn added.

But the audience never fully forgot the long-ago disappointment Harvard had served Garfunkel.

“Stupid Harvard!” some onlookers said to each other as they applauded “Mrs. Robinson.”