UNOFFICIAL WEBSITE*

A traditional and powerful singing of American shape-note hymns, fuging tunes, and anthems
in unaccompanied four-part harmony from The Sacred Harp and The Shenandoah Harmony

Washington, DC metro area: April 5 and 6, 2025

Photo at left (or above) by Steven Sabol. Photo on right (or below) by Rachel Speer of the 2007 convention at the Great Falls Grange.

Saturday, April 5, 2025:

• 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM: All-Day Singing with Dinner on the Grounds
  Location: Church of the Ascension Parish Hall, 633 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910

• Saturday evening social: location to be announced at the convention.

Sunday, April 6, 2025:

• 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM: All-Day Singing with Dinner on the Grounds
  Location: Lacey Woods Park, rear picnic shelter, 1200 N. George Mason Dr., Arlington, VA 22205. Rain or shine!

Registration opens at 10:00 am on Saturday and 9:30 am on Sunday.
We will sing from both The Sacred Harp (1991) and The Shenandoah Harmony, both books each day in alternating sessions.
Sunday's location is outdoors and covered; we will sing rain or shine. Local singers, please bring a folding chair if you have one.
All are welcome: beginners, experienced singers, and listeners.
No admission charge -- free-will offering.
Please do not come if you feel ill or have lingering cold/flu symptoms. Masks are welcome, but optional.
Pot-luck dinner 12:30 pm each day. Local singers, please bring a substantial meal to share each day that you plan to eat lunch at the convention. At Saturday location, there is a microwave but no oven. At the Sunday location, there is no electricity.
Copies of The Sacred Harp (1991 Edition, successor to the Denson Revision) and The Shenandoah Harmony (first published in 2013) will be available for loan and purchase. Please bring these tunebooks if you have them.

2025 Convention Chair, David Shulman. See Contacts link below.

Left (or above): Parish Hall of the Church of the Ascension. Right (or below): Lacey Woods Park rear picnic shelter

• Directions to singing locations
• Lodging with local singers
• Contacts for information on the Convention and other local singings
• More information on Sacred Harp music and the Sacred Harp tradition
• Bringing children to the Convention
• Information on cherry blossoms in DC during the Convention dates
• Minutes of the 2024 Convention
• YouTube videos taken at recent Potomac River Conventions (most songs from The Shenandoah Harmony (ShH)
• Images from the 2007 Convention at the Great Falls Grange, taken by Rachel Speer
• Dates of the 2026 Convention

*This is an unofficial website, as the current organizers do not have a website specifically for this convention. It is this year's version of a website I have maintained since the 1990s. I have copied particulars about the convention from the organizers' announcement on Facebook. This website provides much additional information for potential new singers and others expecting to find convention information on the Web beyond Facebook. It also has useful details about venue locations. -Steven Sabol