Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings

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Lincoln’s Birthday Singing

University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Saturday, February 13, 2021

The 29th annual Lincoln’s Birthday Singing was held on the second Saturday in February, in conjunction with the University of Chicago Folk Festival. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Folk Festival was held entirely online this year.

Since many people unfamiliar with Sacred Harp attend this singing, because the singing workshop was limited by the Folk Festival organizers to =45 (t? b?) minutes, and because group singing is not possible in a virtual format, we adopted a new format for this year’s singing. The entire workshop was a singing school during which we played audio and video recordings of songs to illustrate concepts and to give participants an opportunity to sing along. Attendance online for most of the workshop ranged between =120-=126 people.

The following officers were elected or appointed to serve: Chairman—Jim Helke; Secretary—Mary Rogel; Arranging Officer—Lisa Grayson; Zoom DJ’s—Evelyn Lamb and Theo Economides.

The class was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by Jim Helke, who immediately yielded the floor to the singing school instructor, Lisa Grayson.

The following songs were called: 542; 47b; 49t; 186; 278b; 112; a short segment from Bruce Springsteen’s “Death to My Hometown,” which is based on 112; 71; 448t; 269; 547.

Officers thanked participants for attending and provided resource information for how interested singers might participate in online singings now and in-person singings later.

Chairman—Jim Helke; Secretary—Mary Rogel