JOIN US AT HUBBARD HALL
25 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY
Saturday & Sunday, October 17 & 18, 2009

A regular singing from the Sacred Harp is a non-denominational community musical and social event, emphasizing participation, not performance. Newcomers are welcomed to sing, without auditions. No experience is necessary. Any type, quality, or range of voice will find a comfortable and important place within the harmonies. No membership is required. Since this is not performance music, no rehearsals are scheduled, just singings. People come when they can, and leave when they have to. See resources to learn more.

Local Monthly Singings

Regular Sacred Harp singings are held throughout New York State, visit this page for more information.

Monthly Singing
First Saturdays in Clifton Park, NY

There is a regular monthly singing from the Sacred Harp, 1991 Edition on the second Saturday in September, and first Saturdays October through June in Clifton Park, New York (near Albany). The singing is held from 7:30 to 10 PM.

The Albany-area singing meets at Jonesville United Methodist Church, 963 Main Street, Clifton Park, NY.

The Albany-area Sacred Harp singers are happy to host the 2009 New York State Convention. We invite you to sing with us in the coming months!

For more information, contact Michael Ryan, 518-399-6046, Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg, 617-984-9378 or or George or Jean Seiler, 518-583-7813.

Download a flyer with directions and the 2009-2010 for the Albany-area monthly singing.

The Albany-area singers are also hosting an all day singing on June 12, 10-4 PM, at the Old Songs Center, 37 South Main, Voorheesville, NY

Monthly Singing and Singing School
Third Tuesdays in Cambridge, NY

There will be a regular monthly singing from the Sacred Harp tunebook every third Tuesday at Hubbard Hall’s Lovejoy Building, on Main Street in Cambridge New York, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. All are welcome.

Starting at 7:00 pm, each regular singing will begin with an old fashioned singing school by singing master Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg. The instruction will be tailored to both those who are new to Sacred Harp traditions, and to existing community singers who may have sung this music as part of the Battenkill Chorale.

Sacred Harp tunebooks will be available for singers to borrow for the evening. In addition, we will have some books for sale.

After the brief singing school, a regular singing will commence. All singers are invited to call a song from the Sacred Harp tunebook and lead it, or request another leader’s assistance.

During 2009, we will be gearing up to host the New York State Sacred Harp Convention, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2009, at Hubbard Hall. This is the first time eastern New York has hosted the convention. We were happy to find such a good sounding space in which to sing. We expect attendance of up to 200 singers from across the Northeast and beyond. The singing schools and regular monthly singing will be an oportunity for more people in the community to fully participate in the two day singing event, and to show off the town and hall.

The Sacred Harp tradition has its roots in the Southeastern United States, but there is a local connection to this music as well. Many of the tunes in the Sacred Harp were written by 18th and 19th century itinerant singing masters who distributed their music through the rural towns of New England and New York. One such singing master was Eliakim Doolittle (1772 to 1850) of nearby Argyle, who taught singing schools along the New York and Vermont border towns. He was described as “the child of song, and no mean composer.”

So please join us on the third Tuesday of the month. Please contact Joanne Fuller for more information.