[Magdalen] Singing the new year in

[Grace Cangialosi]

Just an added note or two:
This is the oldest continuous Harmonia Sacra singing in the country--always on New Year's night. No instruments except a pitch pipe at the beginning, just 200 or so folks singing wonderful four-part harmony with the parts scattered randomly among the crowd, no separate "sections" for the various parts. Lots of leaders, usually doing one song of their choice.
They always take a kind of census to see where people come from, and tonight they ranged from Florida to Minnesota with a heavy concentration from VA, of course, WV, which is only about 20 miles from Harrisonburg, Kentucky and Ohio.
Like Susan, after nearly two hours of non-stop singing, I had hardly any voice by the time we left!
I think this was my third time attending this. Listsib Cady came with us one year.

> On Jan 1, 2015, at 10:01 PM, Susan Hagen <susanvhagen at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm just home after a dinner with listsib Grace and an evening singing
> shape note hymns from the very local Harmonia Sacra hymnal.  This New
> Year's night sing has been going on without a break for about 150
> years.  It was wonderful but my voice is down to a squeak.
> 
> Susan
> 
> -- 
> Before enlightenment pay bills, do laundry.  After enlightenment pay
> bills, do laundry.