OcTech’s Farewell Concert Marks the End of an Era at Caltech

OcTech, Caltech’s choral octet, at one of their last performances (Photo – Paolo Calchi Novati)

At 7:00 pm on July 25, 2026, OcTech, Caltech’s choral octet, made the cozy, wood-paneled walls of the Morgan Library ring with music for the last time. The group will hold its final on-campus performance on Sunday, July 26, at 2:00 pm in Caltech’s Dabney Hall, where it will present the same program, Farewell: Songs of Departure.

By Paolo Calchi Novati

According to OcTech founder and soprano Kate Radford, PhD, the group will dissolve this year because five of its eight members will soon be leaving Caltech for positions at other universities: alto Georgia Squyres, alto Lauren Conger, tenor Thorgal Hinault, bass Philip Woods, and Radford herself. They will leave behind alto Anne Marinan, tenor Mitchell Shapiro Albert, and bass Noah Epstein.

“It’s a real treat to get to work with these people because, besides being incredible, wonderful, fun friends, they’re also incredible, wonderful, fun singers,” Radford said when asked what she would miss most about OcTech.

In a typically Caltech fashion, all of the singers balance their love of music with demanding graduate or postdoctoral work. In addition to performing 10 pieces ranging from Renaissance works to an American folk tune, the group premiered original compositions by two of its members: Epstein’s arrangement of the Scottish folk song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond” and Woods’s “After Many Springs.” The choir closed the evening with a heartfelt performance of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria,” a piece it has performed many times, including at its first concert.

“I think it’s nice to write a piece to be performed by my group. The way the parts are arranged, I have specific people in mind, and that makes it a lot of fun,” Epstein said about premiering his composition.

In part because of the small, intimate venue, the concert had a warm, homelike atmosphere. The singers themselves directed attendees to the library, served drinks and snacks during intermission, and freely mingled with audience members after the performance.

OcTech was founded in 2022 by Radford, who wanted to “sing beautiful, complicated music, one on a part,” and the ensemble cycled through 17 members over its five-year history. It leaves behind a legacy of charity concerts, including its 2025 program, Phoenix, which raised money for recovery efforts supporting people affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires.

After a standing ovation at the end of the concert, one emotional audience member exclaimed, “Thank you. Thank you all so much for all you’ve done for our lives.”