Sacred Harp Berlin

Sacred Harp Berlin We sing shape note songs from the Sacred Harp and Shenandoah Harmony in Berlin. Singt mit!

Not your usual choir!
*** Weekly singing ***
Thursdays 7:30-10:00pm
Refugio Berlin
Lenaustr. 4, 12043 Berlin
2nd floor [runterscrollen für Info auf deutsch]

AND LOUD FOR JOY THEY SING - SH 229 Irwinton // ShH 381 Abenaki

We sing shapenote songs from the Sacred Harp and the Shenandoah Harmony in Berlin - four-part harmony choral music from the USA, using an ingenious system, developed around 1800

, to learn how to sight-read music. Everyone is welcome to join us, no experience required, no rehearsals, no performances. Our music is part old English church hymn, part Sea Shanty, part folk song and part Gospel (Amazing Grace is in our book, too!). The lyrics are Christian, but it's not a religious practice: If you can sing Bach, you can sing Sacred Harp. Come sing with us!

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Wir singen shapenote music aus der Sacred Harp und der Shenandoah Harmony (vierstimmiger A Capella Gesang aus den USA). Wir sind kein Chor im klassischen Sinn: ohne Chorleiter*in, ohne Proben, ohne Auftritte. Dafür mit einem genialen System, entstanden in Amerika um 1800, um das vierstimme Vom-Blatt-Singen zu lernen. Die Musik: zwischen altem Kirchenlied und Shanty, zwischen Irish Folk und Amazing Grace (ja, das ist auch in unserem Buch!). Christliche Texte, aber keine religiöse Veranstaltung: wer Bach singt, kann auch Sacred Harp singen. Check out our website: www.sacredharpberlin.de

We hope to sing with you soon!

In August 2025, Berlin singer Sebastian Borckenhagen travelled to Stuttgart to meet his buddy and fellow bass-singer Bak...
13/03/2026

In August 2025, Berlin singer Sebastian Borckenhagen travelled to Stuttgart to meet his buddy and fellow bass-singer Baker (bakerwardlaw.com), to print shirts with Bora Tanay, an artist who prints on clothing (Instagram: .) The shirts were for our Berlin All-Day singing two weeks later. Watch his cute video about the trip, where he also explains Sacred Harp singing! Lots of singing footage from the All-Day as well.

In August 2025 I travelled to Stuttgart to meet my buddy and fellow bass-singer Baker (bakerwardlaw.com), to print shirts with Bora Tanay, an artist who prin...

Barcelona now has a Sacred Harp singing group with a regular singing! 🤩 Every Thursday 7-9 pm
29/01/2026

Barcelona now has a Sacred Harp singing group with a regular singing! 🤩 Every Thursday 7-9 pm

17/12/2025

Last singing before Christmas: Thursday 18.12. 🌟
NO singing on 25.12. 🎄
YES, singing on 01.01. 🎆

17/12/2025

Recorded at The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition Debut Singing at the 120th Session of the United Sacred Harp Musical Association, September 13, 2025, Atlanta, Geor...

WATCH: New teaser trailer of Tim Morton's soon-to-be-released shapenote documentary film! 🤩
05/12/2025

WATCH: New teaser trailer of Tim Morton's soon-to-be-released shapenote documentary film! 🤩

Step inside the world of The Sacred Harp—a 19th-century tunebook kept alive in communal gatherings of unaccompanied, full-voiced singing. Singing the Shapes ...

Neustart der Oxford regular singings!
11/11/2025

Neustart der Oxford regular singings!

We are looking forward to welcoming you to St John the Evangelist, Iffley Road, next week! Please also keep Tuesday 2 December in your diary, for the second and final singing of this term.

Please share this to any and all singers you may know, both those in the Shape Note community and those who aren't (yet)! We are hoping to begin this session with a singing school, so this will be a good introductory session for those unfamiliar with our tradition.

Two notes:
1. Unfortunately the church does not have a kitchen on-site, so please bring water bottles/Thermos flasks with you.

2. Parking is not terribly easy around the church. The nearest car parks are Union Street (8-10mins walk away) and St Clement's (12-15mins walk away), both pay and display. Where possible, it's better to use public transport: the 1, 3 and 5 buses all stop at the church or a 1 minute walk away!

LANKUM's Ian Lynch dedicates a special episode of his podcast "Fire Draw Near" to Sacred Harp singing!
16/09/2025

LANKUM's Ian Lynch dedicates a special episode of his podcast "Fire Draw Near" to Sacred Harp singing!

I'm delighted to announce that Episode LXIII is finally finished and online for your enjoyment and responsible consumption. This one is a focused look at Shape Note singing in the United States and is based around two interviews I conducted this year with Howe Pears and Sasha Ixin Hsuczyk It looks at the history and evolution of shape note singing in North America, as well as various cultural and social aspects of the tradition. I took a different kind of approach with this one, let me know what you think of it! https://campsite.bio/firedrawnear X

16/09/2025

"And am I born to die? To lay this body down?" - Impressions from the Berlin Sacred Harp & Shenandoah Harmony All-Day Singing Weekend in August 2025.

SOUND: Sacred Harp singers from Berlin and guests singing the shapenote song IDUMEA by Ananias Davisson (1816), page 47b in The Sacred Harp. Recorded by Sebastian Borckenhagen.
VIDEO: Recorded on both days of the Berlin Sacred Harp All-Day Singing Weekend 2025, by David Marnuse.

"Bridge Hill Kennedy was hooked on Sacred Harp music the first time he heard it from the center of the hollow square. Ov...
11/09/2025

"Bridge Hill Kennedy was hooked on Sacred Harp music the first time he heard it from the center of the hollow square. Over 20 years later, he takes us into the striking, singular sound and experience of Sacred Harp: a living tradition that unites singers from all walks of life in a community like no other. Bridge also walks us through a typical day at a Sacred Harp singing, including the memorial lesson, dinner on the ground, and those ineffable moments of communion."

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Bridge taught the singing school at the 2022 Germany Sacred Harp Convention in Berlin. He is a regular visitor of European shapenote communities and a great advocate for our singing tradition.

Podcast Episode · Alabama Folk · 09/09/2025 · 47m

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