This Saturday, dozens of singers from the eastern shore and farther afield will gather at the Easton Unitarian Fellowship at 10:00am to take part in a tradition stretching back to the earliest days of American music. The full-voice, four-part, lively a capella singing found in the “Shape Note” style hearkens back to a time when communities made music together. Using the triangle, oval, square, and diamond-shaped notes (and their syllables, Fa, So, La, and Mi), participants will sing dozens of songs from the Shenandoah Harmony songbook, without rehearsal or instruments to guide their voices. Sitting in a “hollow square” that allows everyone to see and hear, participants take turns choosing and leading the songs the group will sing.
Hosted by the Easton shape-note singers, a loose collective that has met monthly for the last two years to sing, this weekend’s All-Day Sing offers a look into the living tradition of shape-note singing. The music is often a study in contradictions: exploring songs unchanged from colonial times in a modern context, singing joyfully about human frailty, and contending with strongly Protestant texts in a non-sectarian setting. “The experience of singing together in community brings so much joy,” says Topher Lawton, one of the organizers of Saturday’s event. “Some singers connect deeply to the harmony, others may connect with the religious roots of the texts, and we all find something renewing in the experience,” though he is quick to point out that there is no creed or belief system required to sing.
Though the music is not a “performance,” all are welcome to come and listen–you’ll be offered a loaned copy of the songbook, and invited to sit and join the singing.
Saturday’s All-Day Sing is hosted by the Easton Shape-Note Singers at the UU Fellowship of Easton, 7401 Ocean Gateway (US 50), Easton, Maryland. This regional all-day sing will use the Shenandoah Harmony tunebook, extras available for loan! Registration begins at 9:30am, singing 10am-3:30pm. For questions or more information, visit the Facebook event page: <https://fb.me/e/ZuYwb84E>
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