Songs of Love and Freedom: The Music of Mother Ann Lee

This year marks a once-in-a generation commemoration year for the Shaker Heritage Society; the 250th anniversary of the arrival of Ann Lee to the site they steward, and the founding of the American Shaker movement there in 1776. To mark the occasion, the Shaker Heritage Society will host a choral performance of Shaker music from the Revolutionary period and beyond, researched and arranged by American composer Kevin Siegfried. Through song, the performance will celebrate Ann Lee’s legacy as the founder of a movement dedicated to the Revolutionary ideal of liberty, and deep commitment to pacifism, human equality, and community.

After the concert, Brother Arnold Hadd, from the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community in New Gloucester, Maine, will appear as a special guest and virtual speaker during a Shaker-inspired communal meal by Navona Catering.

• $60 General / $50 Members: Includes 4pm concert and outdoor reception with refreshments and one drink ticket
• $130 General / $120 Members & Volunteers: Includes 4pm concert and outdoor reception with refreshments and one drink ticket PLUS full dinner experience with cash bar and virtual presentation with Brother Arnold Hadd

The event will be held on May 23, 2026 at 4:00pm at the 1848 Meeting House at 25 Meeting House Road, Albany, NY, 12211.

About Kevin Siegfried

As a composer and arranger deeply committed to the performance and preservation of early American music, Kevin Siegfried has devoted much of his career to raising awareness of Shaker musical traditions. Choral arrangements from his “Shaker Harmony Collection” have been performed and recorded by choirs around the globe. “Lay Me Low,” one of Siegfried’s most frequently performed Shaker arrangements, was sung by The Joint Armed Forces Chorus at the State Funeral of President George H. W. Bush. In recent years, Siegfried has undertaken extensive archival research at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine. This research has led to multiple collaborations with Brother Arnold Hadd, who carries on the 250-year oral tradition of Shaker song. Collaborations have included concert performances at Sabbathday Lake, a film for the American Folklife Center entitled “Shaker Spirituals in Maine,” and the recording of two oral histories for the Library of Congress. In 2024, Siegfried presented a “Community Sing” at the Library of Congress in acknowledgement of the 250th anniversary of the Shakers in North America. Since 2014, he has served as composer-in-residence with the Capitol Hill Chorale in Washington, DC. He teaches at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. For more information, visit www.kevinsiegfried.com.

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