Hello friends! Mary McDonald-Lewis here from Portland Sacred Harp, in Oregon. Im writing with something for you to consider, which I hope youll find interesting. Im going to be in Montreal in August at the Voice and Speech Trainers Association yearly conference, held at Concordia University in Montreal, and have pitched the conference to present a workshop on Shapenote singing (its a great way to set the voice free!) vasta.org/vasta-conference-montreal-2015 I wondered if some of you singers there might be interested in attending the workshop so we can have a proper singing school? Be great to have some regular singers in the room for it. Ill know in early Feb it the presentation is accepted, and if so, it would take place sometime between August 2-5. ***Im also looking at Air BnBs close to the Fairmont Hotel (where most conference-goers will stay) so if anyone has one, or has a pal with one, do let me know right away please! There will be one, but possibly two, of us traveling together. Proximity to the hotel is necessary due to events there. Ill be attending the conference whether I present or not.*** More on me: marymac Please do let me know if youre interested and available, and Ill post here as soon as I hear if my presentation is a go in August. Heres my presentation submission to the conference: MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE! A brand-new, ancient way to let your voice fly. Shapenote, or Sacred Harp singing is the earliest form of European American music. It is simple, but complex. Powerfully loud, and potently harmonic. Utterly lacking in dynamics, yet mysteriously nuanced. Never performed, and a deeply personal practice seen and heard worldwide. It’s ancient hymns sung by Punks and Goths, Christians and Atheists and folks from every walk of life – and capable of touching and breaking all hearts open wide. Why? Perhaps because the forefathers and mothers of Sacred Harp singing understood pedagogy on a gut level: that they could tease out harmonies from limited singers (some non-literate) through the use of four simple shapes and a kinetic relationship to the song. Or maybe because there’s magic in this music: that in those aching chords there is blood and bone, heart and soul, hope and longing – and a vocal resonance that travels from the singer’s throat to all singing; and from there to the universe itself. Can such a thing be possible, through this old-time sound? Some argue it is not “old-fashioned,” but eternal; as such, what it can reveal to you about universal truths is timeless, and waiting for you: you just have to come to the hollow square, and join the song. Mary McDonald-Lewis will teach you how to sing the shapes, and set your voice a-soaring. https://youtube/watch?v=YHUfHNEZDPc A trailer on the history of Shape Note singing that provides a nice history of the practice. Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp Movie Trailer youtube
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:28:54 +0000
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