Celebrating the 2025 edition of The Sacred Harp

Shape-note singing is a rousing participatory style sometimes characterized as “the punk rock of Protestant hymnody.” Founded over 25 years ago by Smithies, the powerful sound of the weekly Tuesday singing has lured passersby off the street into the Chapel, become a fulcrum of the international revival of this living tradition, and created a diaspora of devoted singers and composers.

The library singing offers a chance to experience this joyful, democratic, welcoming, inclusive, and uniquely American living tradition—and to meet the new tunebook, where composers with Western Mass connections represent 20% of new songs! Open to all.