Harpeth Valley Sacred Harp Singers conclude festival with free concert May 5

Release Date: 4/28/2003. Expired: 5/5/2003

The Renaissance Center’s three-day Singo de Mayo music festival concludes Monday, May 5, with a free performance of the Harpeth Valley Sacred Harp Singers as part of the center’s Recitals in the Rotunda series.

Admission to the 7 p.m. concert in the rotunda is free and the program will be videotaped for broadcast on The Renaissance Channel, local cable access 19.

“This event holds special appeal since it will include significant audience participation in traditional shape-note hymn singing,” said Carol McClure, harp instructor and coordinator of the Recitals in the Rotunda series at The Renaissance Center.

The Harpeth Valley Sacred Harp Singers, led by Timothy Reynolds, is an enthusiastic group of people from all walks of life who gather to sing shape-note music from American tunebooks that date back to the first half of the 19th century.

“Fasola music is unlike virtually any other heard today,” said Reynolds. “Dating back to the 18th century, it is one of America’s oldest continuing musical styles. Sung a cappella in four-part harmony, it is distinctive for its massive, hard-edged sound, its combination of driving rhythms and folk lyricism and its spiritual intensity. This music is close to the bone.”

The Harpeth Valley Sacred Harp Singers maintain an active schedule of monthly sings in Nashville, including two all-day singing and dinner on the grounds events, and actively participate in singing festivals throughout the region, including the legendary Big Sing held every spring in Benton, Ky., which attracts participants from around the country.

“We take our name from the Harpeth Valley Sacred Harp Singing, which was begun in 1962 by the Rev. Priestly Miller, pastor of the Harpeth Presbyterian Church until his death in 1969,” Reynolds said. “The singing continues to be held annually on the first Saturday after Easter. A few years ago the singing was moved to the Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville.”

Traditional sacred harp sings are staged with the group sitting in a square, singing to one another, Reynolds explained. For the concert at The Renaissance Center, the audience will be seated in a square around the group and is invited to participate. The group sings from the 1991 edition of The Sacred Harp, first published in 1844 and in continuous publication since that year. Much of the music to be sung Monday will be familiar to local church-goers, since many of the tunes and texts have found new homes in modern hymnals.

“We have diverse backgrounds in music,” Reynolds said. “Some of us are trained singers, most are not. Many of us sing in church choirs and other choral groups, including the Nashville Symphony Chorus. Some of us have been singing shape-note music all of our lives but most of us came to it as adults. We represent a variety of religious traditions.

“Each singer has his or her own reasons for a love of this music. A common thread that connects the members of the Sacred Harp community is the awareness of a tradition that has been passed from one generation to the next over the last 160 years. It is our responsibility to care for the tradition that has been given to us and to pass it on to the next generation of singers.”

The three-day Singo de Mayo music festival at The Renaissance Center kicks off Saturday, May 3, with a variety of free performances 2-5 p.m. in the center’s rotunda and Performance Hall.

Artists to perform include The Renaissance Center Community Jazz Band, Miss Amy’s Irish Dancers, the Three Rivers Dulcimer Association, bagpipe player Todd Boswell, three-time national champion harmonica player Glenn “Wailin’ Wood” Woodland, singer/songwriters Templeton Thompson and Sam Gay, dulcimer player Sarah Elisabeth and Karl Littleton’s bluegrass band.

The festival continues Sunday, May 4, with a special 2 p.m. performance featuring western swing band of the year The Time Jumpers with special guests The Cantrells. Tickets for the concert in the Performance Hall are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children under 13.

For more information on the Singo de Mayo music festival or the Recitals in the Rotunda series, contact Director of Music Elaine Sherrill at (615)740-5545. For ticket information call (615)740-5570.

The Renaissance Center is an arts and technology education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Events - Concerts and Recitals page for more about musical performances.

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