For a biochemistry concentrator, Theodore Wiprud ’80 has given new meaning to the concepts of labs and experiments.

Currently the Director of Education for the New York Philharmonic and a self-published composer, Wiprud’s foray into music has him experimenting with composition, educational projects, and more recently, E major for the Class of 1980’s memorial service.

While listening to the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece “Tempest Fantasy,” by Paul Moravec ’79, at last year’s reunion, Wiprud says he wondered how he could participate musically to his own reunion. After getting in touch with the reunion committee, he was asked to compose the music for the class’s memorial service.

“That really appealed to me because the memorial service is really a tremendous part of the reunion,” Wiprud says. “It’s about the only time of sober reflection, and it’s a chance to try to do something musically that isn’t only light.”

Wiprud says he decided to create something special that would be sung by a choir, so he knew his composition would have to be easy to arrange, with a text that would allow different religions to relate to it.

He settled on “Lux Aeterna,” a section from the “Requiem Mass.” Although Wiprud’s chosen text is traditionally Christian, he says it has interfaith qualities.

“I was trying to find something that would express a sentiment of giving, some quiet reflection to the loss of our contemporaries, and appreciation for their lives,” Wiprud says. “What I aim to do is something very simple, moving in a simple way.”

Wiprud says his involvement with the memorial program makes this reunion even more special to him.

“As a composer, there’s nothing like using one’s art in the service of one’s community,” he says. “It’s not ivory tower at all, it’s trying to contribute something to this community of observance.”

ARTS AND SCIENCES

As a member of the Harvard community during his college years, Wiprud bridged the arts and sciences.

He concentrated in biochemistry and practiced piano for three hours a day. Although he studied piano from an early age and was composing by high school, Wiprud says he never considered himself a good performer and did not join any musical organizations at Harvard.

Instead, he was heavily involved in the Currier House Drama Society and cites the Currier Fishbowl as the most memorable place on campus.

Inside the distant buildings of the Quad, Currier’s artistic community created some of Wiprud’s best moments in college. The Fishbowl was the site of many of the theatrical productions in which Wiprud took part, both on and backstage. His roles ranged from the romantic lead in “Ten Little Indians” to the father in “Ah, Wilderness!” As for his directorial debut, Wiprud took the reins of “Murder in the Cathedral.”

TO-GA! TO-GA! TO-GA!