Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Singing Convention

Name: Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Singing Convention
Start: 2026-03-07T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-08T14:30:00-05:00
Location: 130 Pine Street, Florence, MA, United States, Massachusetts 01062

Schedule

Sat, 07 Mar, 2026 at 10:00 am to Sun, 08 Mar, 2026 at 02:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

130 Pine Street, Florence, MA, United States, Massachusetts 01062 | Florence, MA

All are welcome to participate in two days of community singing in four-part harmony from The Sacred Harp, 2025, no prior singing experience required. For nearly 200 years the storied Sacred Harp tune book has been a wellspring of the “shapenote” tradition, one of America’s oldest and liveliest community singing practices, best known through hymns like “Amazing Grace” and “Wayfaring Stranger.” First published in Georgia in 1844, the heartland of Sacred Harp singing remains in the deep southern United States. But Western Massachusetts connections run deep, from songs by self-taught locals in the eighteenth century, to the famously vibrant weekly Tuesday singing at Smith College’s Helen Hills Chapel and the nearly two dozen new songs with local connections in the brand new Sacred Harp. (Before the 2025 edition, the most modern local music dated to about 1800!)
The music is sacred, and the singing is social. Its appeal to people of all sorts, whether or not they’re otherwise inclined to set foot in a church, rests largely in the beauty and power of the experience, and the fact that it’s just plain fun. This year’s convention will be chaired by Tim Eriksen, who first chaired it in 1999, with vice-chair Allison Steel who helped start the Tuesday night singing. There will be a free, mid-day dinner on the grounds both days. All are welcome to attend, bring friends and family, and stay for as much or little of the singing as they like.