Singing Sacred Harp in Chicago

Try it, you'll like it.

This is the home page of the University of Chicago Shape-Note Singing Association. Check out the calendar of singings, or join our email list if you prefer to recieve timely reminders of when an event is coming up. If you have trouble signing up for the email list, drop a line to the list admins. Remember, rides to the various singings are often available from Hyde Park and elsewhere.

Click here for calendar of this month's many local singings.

The 2009 Midwest Convention will take place on May 30 and 31, 2009 (the weekend AFTER Memorial Day) at Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th St. We will sing from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. both days.

Join us for two full days of traditional shape-note singing from The Sacred Harp, the 160-year-old American tunebook. We'll use the 1991 Revision. Dinner on the grounds both days. Local singers please bring at least one large dish to share and utensils to serve it. (Sorry, there are no warming facilities.)

Sacred Harp events are FREE---come to sing or listen!

The 2009 convention chairs are David and Debbie Barford.

What's it all about?
Web resources and information on Sacred Harp singing.

Ok, so what does it sound like?
Sound samples all over the web, in various formats.

Stories and histories
A brief history of Sacred Harp, as well as some anecdotes from various singings. (To submit a story, e-mail it to me.)

Singers regularly in attendance include:
A traffic court judge
An ethnomusicologist
The director of Bella Voce
A yodel instructor
A U of C dropout from decades past
Alumni, college students, graduate students, faculty, staff, community members,
Southerners, young children, Protestants, agnostics, gays, Yankees, Jews, scholars, senior citizens, Quakers, Catholics, professional musicians, Buddhists,
folk dancers, librarians, writers, conservatives, good cooks (who bring food), couples, families
But most importantly: some people who wandered up off the street
when they heard us singing.