Cork Sacred Harp

Cork, Ireland's community Sacred Harp singing group.

[corksacredharp]

Convention and Singing School Teacher Announcement!

The Sacred Harp Singers of Cork warmly invite you all to come and join us for the Eighth Ireland Sacred Harp Convention! As it has been such a tremendous venue in recent years, once again we'll be singing for the weekend in St. Maries of the Isle primary school, Bishop Street, Cork.

Thursday - Weekly singing

Friday - Singing school with Bridgett Hill Kennedy

Saturday - Convention singing / social

Sunday - Convention singing / social

Monday - Cooper book afternoon singing

Thursday 1st March 7-9pm - Unitarian Church, Princes Street.

Our Thursday singing on convention week is always extra special and well worth arriving early for. We had over 100 singers last year!

Friday 2nd March 7-9pm - St. Maries of the Isle N.S.

We are delighted to announce that this year's singing school teacher will be Bridgett Hill Kennedy. BRIDGETT HILL KENNEDY, PhD, attended her first Sacred Harp singing in June of 2003. This life changing event came about when she was invited to accompany her sister-in-law to a singing for a commissioned painting (“All Day Singing and Dinner on the Grounds” by Bethanne Hill, 2003, commissioned by Max Berueffy). Since then, Bridgett has been honored to serve as an instructor at both Adult and Youth sessions of Camp Fasola (2013-2017) and Camp Fasola, Europe (2014). As a social scientist, she enjoys teaching on the sociocultural aspects and benefits of Sacred Harp. Bridgett is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Online Psychology Degree Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Saturday 3rd March / Sunday 4th March - St. Maries of the Isle N.S.

Registration both days will be open at 9:30; singing from 10:00 to 16:00 with dinner on the grounds at 13:00.

Saturday evening's social will be in Cork Cricket Club from 19:00.

Monday 6th March - 2-5pm - St. Fin Barre's Cathedral Hall, Dean St.

Afternoon singing from the Cooper book.

If you have any questions, you can contact our chair, Kevin at [email protected]

General Sacred Harp queries to [email protected]

Photo courtesy of Ruth Wampler

[corksacredharp]

Upcoming Shape Note Singing Workshop!

This Thursday, July 6th, we'll have an introductory shape note singing workshop for beginners at 19:00, followed by regular weekly singing from 19:30 until 21:00. Our singing is open to everyone, of all voice ranges and all experience levels. Don't worry if you can't read music - the shape note system is designed to make it easy to learn to sight sing!

Unitarian Church, Prince's St.

[corksacredharp]

Convention and Singing School Teacher Announcement!

The Sacred Harp Singers of Cork warmly invite you all to join us for the Seventh Ireland Sacred Harp Convention in March! This year we will be returning to St. Maries of the Isle Primary School, Bishop Street, Cork City.

The schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Thursday 2nd March, 7-9pm

Regular weekly singing in the Unitarian Church, Princes Street. Following the singing, we'll gather for a social in a local pub.

Friday 3rd March, 7-9pm

We are delighted to announce that Jonathon Smith will be leading our singing school this year! Jonathon is a doctoral student in musicology at the University of Illinois. Originally from South Carolina, he has been singing from The Sacred Harp since 2005 and is a friend of ours for many years. The singing school will take place in St. Maries of the Isle at a yet to be confirmed time.

Saturday 4th March, 9.30am-4.00pm

First day of the Seventh Ireland Sacred Harp Convention. Registration opens at 9.30am, singing at 10.00am. We will sing until around 4pm with a potluck lunch.

For Saturday's social, we are returning to the Cork Cricket Club.

Sunday 5th March, 9.30am-4.00pm

Second day of the Seventh Ireland Sacred Harp Convention. Registration opens at 9.30am, singing at 10.00am. We will sing until around 4pm with a potluck lunch.

Sunday's social venue is yet to be confirmed.

Monday 6th March

We will meet on Monday for brunch at 12 noon, followed by singing from The Shenandoah Harmony, 3-6pm. Both brunch and singing venues to be confirmed.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to mail our Chairman, Bryan at [email protected]

For anyone looking to be hosted by a local singer or other accommodation options in Cork, please contact Joanna Bennett at [email protected]

General Sacred Harp queries to [email protected]

Photo courtesy of Ewan Paterson.

[corksacredharp]

Happy new year folks! Join us this Thursday (and every Thursday) for some American shape-note singing, 7-9pm, in the Unitarian Church, Princes St. All voices welcome and no experience necessary. I can't think of a better way to start the year, sing on!

[corksacredharp]

This Thursday we're singing in St. Fin Barre's Cathedral Hall, Dean St. Same time, 7-9pm. Beginners welcome!

[corksacredharp]

With less than two weeks to go to our All-Day Weekend, here's the complete schedule!

Thursday 25th August, 7-9pm

Regular weekly singing in the Unitarian Church, Princes Street. Following the singing we'll gather in our favourite pub in Cork, Callanan's on George's Quay.

Friday 26th August, 7-9pm

Sinéad Hanrahan will lead our beginners' singing school in the music venue of Coughlan's Bar, Douglas Street. After the workshop, we've a reserved area booked for us to socialise some more. For more information on Coughlan's, click here

Saturday 27th August, 10am-4pm

All-day singing from The Sacred Harp (1991 Denson Revision) with pot-luck lunch, in St. Fin Barre's Cathedral Hall, Dean Street. The hall is located just around the corner from the cathedral itself.

For Saturday night's social, we've reserved a room all to ourselves from 8pm, upstairs in The Long Valley Bar.

Sunday 28th August

Let's meet at noon for brunch in Electric by the river Lee.

From there we'll head to over to the Quaker Meeting House on Summerhill South, to sing from the The Sacred Harp (Cooper Revision 2012).

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to mail our Chairman, Bryan at [email protected]

For anyone looking to be hosted by a local singer or other accommodation options in Cork please contact Joanna Bennett at [email protected]

General Sacred Harp queries to [email protected]

To say we're excited would be an understatement, safe travels and see yee soon!

Photo courtesy of Ewan Paterson.

[corksacredharp]

This coming Thursday, June 23rd, we'll be singing in St. Finbarre's Hall, Dean Street. It's just around the corner from the cathedral and has a noticeable sign above the door (It's marked on the map by the purple rectangular note or "la"). Once in the main door, go through the glass door and up the garden steps until you see the hall. We'll be back home in the Unitarian, Princes Street on the 30th. Same singing time as always, 7-9pm. Sing on!

To get a feel for this beautiful music and tradition, visit our youtube channel here

[corksacredharp]

We've been invited to sing in St. Anne's (the Shandon Tower) as part of the Shandon Street Festival, Saturday June 18th at 3.45pm. There are a number of other groups/choirs taking part, our plan is to sing for approx 25 minutes. Along with music, there'll be food, dancing, storytelling and historical re-enactments - a little something for everyone!

For more information, visit the Shandon Street Festival website here

[corksacredharp]

The Sacred Harp Singers of Cork warmly invite you all to come and join us for our sixth All-Day singing on Saturday, 27th of August! This year we will be returning to Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral Hall on Dean Street in Cork City.

SCHEDULE

Thursday - 25/08/2016

Regular Weekly Singing from 7-9pm at the Unitarian Church on Princes Street, Cork City

Friday - 26/08/2016

Beginners Singing School. Teacher and venue to be announced.

Saturday - 27/08/2016

All Day singing

Sunday - 28/08/2016

Cooper Book Singing at the Quaker Meeting House, Summerhill South.

More information and details of social events will follow in the coming months.

For anyone looking to be hosted by a local singer or other accommodation options in Cork please contact Joanna Bennett at [email protected]

Photo courtesy of Jonathon Smith

[corksacredharp]

It's less than two weeks to our convention! With that in mind, here's a handy map of our meet-ups over the course of our five day weekend together. For other information, see below. Safe travels!

[corksacredharp]

The Sacred Harp Singers of Cork are thrilled to announce our sixth annual Sacred Harp Convention will be taking place on Sat 5th & Sun 6th March 2016.

Our venue again this year will be the wondrous St. Maries of the Isles primary school, Bishop St, Cork, across the road from St Finbarre’s Cathedral. This beautiful hall has been the perfect venue for our past few conventions and we look forward to making a glorious sound there again this year with you all.Registration opens at 10.00am, singing at 10.30am both Saturday and Sunday.

We are delighted to announce our singing school teacher this year will be Fynn Titford Mock, formerly of Norwich, newly of Germany! Fynn is a multi-talented musician, Sacred Harp composer and teacher and long standing friend of Cork Sacred Harp. We were delighted to host a singing (Fynning) of his compositions in January 2015. And we’re over the moon he will be joining us to teach our singing school between 6-8pm on Friday 4th March at St Maries of the Isles.

As always there will be a myriad of events surrounding the weekend including our weekly Thursday sing from 7-9pm at the Unitarian Church, Princes St to get us going, with social drinks locally to follow.

Our Saturday Social will again be at the charming Cork Cricket Club from 7pm, where we can chat, sing, dance, play music (instruments welcome) and be merry!

On the Sunday night we've been invited yet again to be featured guests at the Cork Singers Club upstairs in An Spailpín Fánach.

For those of you still with us on Monday we will be having brunch from 12pm at the Woodford, Paul St followed by some Christian Harmony singing from 3pm in St. Finbarre's Cathedral Hall, Dean St.

So it’s going to be a fine five day extravaganza of a weekend!

Keep an eye on updates here and also on our facebook group and events pages. We are so looking forward to singing with you all soon here in Cork.

For anyone looking to be hosted by our lovely local singers or info on other accommodation options in Cork please contact our man on accommodation Ross Harbison at [email protected]

Any queries contact woman of the chair Lisa O'Grady at [email protected]

General sacred harp queries to [email protected]

Photo courtesy of Alice Clucas-Depret

[corksacredharp]

In conjunction with the Cork Folk Festival, we are holding an afternoon of shape note singing in the beautiful Quaker Meeting House, Summerhill South, on Saturday October 3rd from 4-7pm.

We are excited to have special guest Matt Wells joining us from Minnesota. Matt is a descendant of B.F. White, the co-author and publisher of the 1844 The Sacred Harp. He will give a brief introduction to this vibrant tradition.

For anyone yet to experience the sound of Sacred Harp, this is an ideal opportunity as the acoustics of the Meeting House lend themselves especially well to this style of singing.

Participation is encouraged and loaner books will be available to anyone who’d like to join in. Light refreshments will be available throughout the singing. This is a free event but donations towards the upkeep of the Quaker Meeting House are welcome.

Photo courtesy of Ewan Paterson Photography.

[corksacredharp]

The Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, have kindly invited us to hold a beginners' workshop in Sacred Harp singing at this year's Culture Night event, Friday 18th September! The workshop is scheduled from 7.30-8.30pm and is free of charge.

For more information, click here

Photo courtesy of Marcin Lewandowski

[corksacredharp]

We invite you all to come and join us in a gloriously fun day of singing and fellowship followed by a sunny social on Saturday 22nd of August. This year we are returning to St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall in Cork City. The Hall is just around the corner from the cathedral, just walk past the main gates and take the first left onto Dean Street and there will be a sign on the door on the right hand side of the road. We will be singing from the 1991 edition of the Denson Sacred Harp and having a pot luck lunch during the day so please bring some food to share.

For anyone who would like to make a weekend of it we will be getting together for brunch at the Woodford, Paul Street, 12pm and Shenandoah Harmony singing at the Unitarian Church, Princes Street, 3pm on the Sunday and for the long weekenders why not make the most of it and get the weekend started early by taking in our regular Thursday singing 7-9pm at the Unitarian.

Our Saturday social will be at the lovely historic Angler's Rest just a short bus/taxi ride from the city centre. It is in a beautiful, scenic location where two rivers meet, has an excellent beer garden, food will be available there and we have a room booked for ourselves for the eve. We will be aiming to be there between 6 & 7pm to order food and eat together and get the fun underway

Singers arriving Friday evening we will be meeting for drinks at the Abbey Tavern pub, Gillabbey Street, just across the road from St Fin Barres cathedral from 7pm (they also have excellent pizza + crisps!)

For anyone looking to be hosted by our lovely local singers or info on other accommodation options in Cork please contact our man on accommodation Ross Harbison at [email protected]

Any queries contact woman of the chair Lisa O'Grady at [email protected]

General sacred harp queries to [email protected]

Looking forward to seeing you all for our first summer all day!

Photo courtesy of Ewan Paterson Photography

[corksacredharp]

2015 Singing School Teacher Announcement

We are very pleased to announce our singing school teacher for this year will be Cath Tyler!

Cath will be giving her school at St. Maries of the Isle on Friday (27th February) from 6.00 to 8.00pm.

Cath has joined us to sing in Cork a number of times, including this summer, where she also gave a school at the Skibbereen Arts Festival. I'm sure you will all agree that Cath has got a brilliant and unique energy and enthusiasm for Sacred Harp Singing and is the perfect choice for our singing school.

[corksacredharp]

The Sacred Harp Singers of Cork are delighted to announce that our fifth annual Sacred Harp convention will take place on Sat 28th of February and Sun 1st of March, 2015. We will also be hosting a singing school on Friday 27th February, with details of our teacher to be announced shortly.

We will be returning to St. Marie’s of the Isle Primary School, Cork City. The school is charming, combining the traditional and the modern - the courtyard walls are covered in murals, the ground in hopscotch and snakes & ladders! The wooden floored hall is spacious and bright with old-school chairs from the 1940’s. This venue proved to be the perfect home for our convention in 2014 and we're very excited to visit it again.

For those of you wishing to make the most of the singing opportunities in Cork this weekend we warmly welcome you to come and join us for our weekly singing in our home, the Unitarian Church on Princes Street, Cork City, on Thursday 26th February. This is where we traditionally warm up for the busy weekend ahead!

Our famous Saturday night social will take place at the Cork County Cricket Club once again. It is a unique location, steeped in the history of the city – one which we hope you will all enjoy!

Keep an eye on our website and Facebook group for further updates. We look forward to singing with you all soon!

For more information, please email us at [email protected]

[corksacredharp]

Some exciting news and development from the Sacred Harp Singers of Cork!

We have recently moved to a new and more central location for our regular weekly singing. Although the time and day will remain the same (Thursday evenings from 7-9pm), we will now be situated in the Unitarian Church on Princes Street, Cork City. The Unitarian is in a great location and has fantastic acoustics so we are very excited to have it as our new home. We would like to extend a warm thank you to both the Guesthouse and St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall for being our home for the past few months.

This August bank holiday weekend, the Sacred Harp Singers of Cork will be traveling west into Skibbereen. We will be holding a Singing School as part of the Skibbereen Arts Festival on Saturday, 2nd August, at 2pm in the Abbeystrewry Hall. If you happen to be in Skibbereen and would like to try something new, come along! All are welcome and no experience is necessary.

Finally, the 4th annual Cork All-Day singing will be taking place on Saturday, 18th October 2014. The weekend is sure to be filled with a lot of song and revelry and we hope to be joined with as many friends, both old and new, as possible. There will be a dedicated post with more information to follow in the coming weeks.

For more information or for any further queries, you can contact us at [email protected]