Shape Note Singing School Weekend
Sponsored by Vermont Community Foundation, The Country Song and Dance Society and New City Galerie
January 13-14th, Burlington
Do you like to sing? Have you always wanted to learn harmony singing? Join us for a fun weekend of singing instruction that uses shape notation to make singing easy and rewarding for beginners and experienced musicians alike! No singing experience necessary!
The Burlington Sacred Harp Singers warmly invite you to join us for a rousing weekend of song and fellowship. We are delighted to welcome renowned shape note singers and filmmakers Matt and Erica Hinton from Atlanta, Georgia. The Hintons will teach a traditional singing school, including an introduction to reading shape note music and important aspects of traditional practice. The weekend will also include a screening of the Hintons' documentary Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, an afternoon of full-on participatory group singing and an evening performance by revered Americana musicians Tim Eriksen, PhD and Peter Irvine.
Friday, January 13
7:30pm Screening of the documentary Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, followed by Q & A with directors Matt and Erica Hinton
Saturday, January 14
10:00am to 12:30pm Singing School with Matt and Erica Hinton
12:30pm Dinner on the Grounds / Potluck Lunch
1:30pm to 4:00pm Singing
7:30pm Tim Eriksen with Peter Irvine: In Concert at Main St. Landing
Singing will be from the 1991 Denson edition of The Sacred Harp. Songbooks will be available to borrow and purchase. All are welcome, no singing or musical experience necessary.
Friday events & Saturday singing school at Contois Auditorium, City Hall, 149 Church St, Burlington.
Saturday concert at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Black Box Theatre, 60 Lake Street, Burlington.
Contact Anna Mays at anna.mays@gmail.com with any questions.
Watch a Stuck in Vermont episode on the Vermont All-Day Sing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4o_cNEDqgY
For more details, visit www.facebook.com/events/1279488325435560/
Shape note singing is one of America’s oldest musical and social gathering activities. Also known as Sacred Harp singing, shape note singing is four-part a cappella singing of hymns, fuging tunes and anthems using shape and syllable notation. An inclusive and democratic community singing tradition that was preserved in the rural South throughout the last century, it is now experiencing a revival with groups learning to sing the music throughout the US and Europe.