Month: February 2018

Photos from the second day of the 2018 Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Convention — Washington (a.k.a. the Seattle Convention):

Above: Corrie Van Duzer from Denver engaging the tenor front bench.

Above: Joel Chan from San Francisco in the hollow square.

Above: Back row of the basses.

Above: Looking across the tenor section towards the back of the room. Although it wasn’t “standing room only,” at the peak attendance seating was tight enough that eight or ten people chose to stand at the back of the room.

Bob Schinske leading 539 Supplication, from the 1991 Denson edition of The Sacred Harp, at the 2018 Pacific Northwest Convention — Washington (a.k.a. the Seattle Convention).

This is another one of those Sacred Harp songs that is rarely led, yet is worth singing. My first impression is positive: good melody, solid bass and treble parts, and the composer must have liked altos (or maybe was married to one) because the alto part is definitely above average. I’ll going to have to sing this one through a few times, and see if it grows on me.

Sean McPherson leading 213b Warning, from the 1991 Denson edition of The Sacred Harp, at the 2018 Pacific Northwest Convention — Washington (a.k.a. the Seattle Convention).

The story goes that 213b Warning was composed as a space filler for an earlier edition of The Sacred Harp. And it’s a tune that is not often led at all-day singings and conventions, ranking 441 overall since 1995. Yet it’s actually a lot of fun to sing (once you get past the bizarre way it’s notated), and I was glad that Sean chose to lead it at this year’s Seattle Convention.