Author: admin

Singing School – June 7

Are you curious about Shape Note singing?

Are you a new Sacred Harp singer looking to improve your singing and leading skills?

Are you experienced singer looking to promote Sacred Harp and help new singers?

Then join us for a full day Singing School! There will be lots of learning and lots of singing, and a potluck lunch.

Central Ontario Sacred Harp Singing School

June 7, 2025

10 am to 3 pm

Potluck lunch (bring enough to share)

Detweiler Meeting House

3445 Roseville Rd, Ayr, ON (near Cambridge)

  • History of shape notes and The Sacred Harp
  • Notes, scales and interval
  • Modes of time, accent and leading a song
  • How to read a new song
  • Tips for going to an All-Day Singing or Convention

Free (there will be a collection)

Singing School Flyer 20250607Download

Shape Note Eucharist

Sing and Joyful Be

Sunday, October 27, 2024 7:00pm – 8:00pm

162 Bloor Street West, at the corner of Bloor and Avenue Road

Join us for Eucharist in the hollow square, featuring at least seven hymns from the shape note singing tradition of The Sacred Harp hymnbook. Our congregational voices will be supported by experienced singers of this unique music tradition. Come worship and sing!

Details on Facebook and the church website.
The service will be streamed on YouTube and available for watching afterward.

Photos from the 3rd Annual Convention & Shenandoah Singing

Thanks to everyone who came to sing. Both days were special, and it was great to get back to Detweiler Meetinghouse.

Saturday: 70 singers from 3 provinces and 6 states; 37 leaders led 77.
Sunday: 53 singers from 3 provinces and 6 states; 41 leaders led 61 songs. 
Friday: We didn’t count how many Shenandoah songs were lead on Friday evening. It was a bunch!

Third Annual Central Ontario Sacred Harp Convention

This year on August 24 and 25 we will host our third two-day convention. After holding a couple of all-day singings post-COVID, we are ready to hold a convention once again.

The first day of this year’s singing is Saturday, August 24 at the Friends House, 60 Lowther Avenue in a mid-town area of Toronto known as the Annex. Following that on Sunday, August 25 we return to the Detweiler Meetinghouse at 3445 Roseville Road, North Dumfries, Ontario. We’ll sing each day from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with midday dinner on the ground.

But there is more! On Friday evening, August 23, there will be a Shenandoah Singing at the Friends House, 60 Lowther Avenue, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30p.m.

And we’ll hold an Evening Social on Saturday, August 24. Details will be available at the singing.

We are offering limited house accommodations for out-of-town singers, and arranging carpools for travel to Detweiler on Sunday. Please Contact Em Ekelund (emilyekelund@gmail.com)for more information.

For questions, more info, and/or to volunteer to help, contact singing@torontoshapenote.org.

You can also download the flyer for more details or join our Facebook group for updates. We hope to see and hear you there!

Third Annual Central Ontario Convention 2024 Singing Info SheetDownload

Shape Note Eucharist

Sing and Joyful Be

Sunday, November 19, 2023 7:00pm – 8:00pm

162 Bloor Street West, at the corner of Bloor and Avenue Road

Join us for Eucharist in the hollow square, featuring hymns from the shape note singing tradition of The Sacred Harp hymnbook. Our congregational voices will be supported by experienced singers of this unique music tradition. Come worship and sing!

Details on Facebook and the church website.

Central Ontario 16th Annual All-Day Singing on August 26th

Friends House Toronto

You are invited to the 2023 Central Ontario All-Day Singing on the Saturday before the fourth Sunday in August. Plus, come sing from Shenandoah Harmony book on the Friday night before in an informal singing.

When:

  • Registration on Saturday, August 26, begins at 9:00 am
  • Singing will be from 10:00 am to approximately 3:30 pm (EDT), with midday dinner on the grounds.

Where: Friends House, 60 Lowther Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5R 1C7.

Directions: Located in central Toronto, the Friends House is about a block north from the Bedford Street exit of the St. George TTC subway station. There is paid parking available on-street or in nearby parking lots.

COVID precautions:

We ask that singers bring proof of a negative test each day of singing and be mindful of their state of health and that of fellow singers.

Further precautions: Doors will be open and air purifiers will be running.

Check out the Facebook Event for more information. This is Ontario shape-note singers’ biggest event of the year, and one you absolutely shouldn’t miss! For questions, more info and/or to volunteer to help, contact singing@torontoshapenote.org.

Friday Evening Shenandoah Singing
Also at Friends House, we are holding a warm-up Friday evening singing, August 25th, 7:30-9:30 p.m. — an informal singing, primarily from The Shenandoah Harmony (with limited loaners available). More details in the Facebook event.

All-Day Singing FlyerDownload
2022 All-Day Singing

Sacred Harp Bremen (Germany)

Sacred Harp ist a cappella Heavy Metal

Many of us know about the website Sacred Harp Breman. When we’re stuck trying to figure out a song, the robot voices are always there to sing our part and help us figure it out. All the Sacred Harp songs have been transcoded into playable sound files along with the poetry, a PDF, and links to YouTube versions of the song. It’s quite useful. The site also has a wealth of Shape Note tips, articles, videos, links, and a wonderful documentary about the formation of the Bremen Group called Shape, Rattle & Roll.

But now, this wonderful site is challenged. Read this from Paul Kolenbrander:

“Most of you will be familiar with the Sacred Harp Bremen website and will have heard the infamous robotic voices of our songs. The site, or rather the 3 sites, Denson, Christian Harmony and Shenandoah, continue to receive many visits daily.

It is with some hesitation that I write this post asking for help from the Sacred Harp community. The cost of keeping our sites running has risen sharply recently. With skyrocketing energy prices in Europe, hosting costs have also risen dramatically. Today our hosting company announced a hefty rate increase for the second time this year. This is now starting to get in over our heads. The last thing we want is to shut down the websites, but in order to keep them running I would like to ask for your help by making a donation. Any contribution is very welcome and greatly appreciated. We solemnly promise that any donation will be used exclusively for the websites.

The link below shows how to make a donation. If anyone has other ways to help us, please feel free to send me a personal message. Thank you in advance for your help!”

—Paul Kolenbrander

So, please think about chipping in if you are able: sacredharpbremen.org/en/donate