SACRED HARP MUSIC
Country: USA
In the true spirit of a Sacred Harp singing, this session, run by Alison Allerton and Trey Davis, will be participatory with delegates singing numerous Sacred Harp tunes. The presentation will feature insight and discussion on Sacred Harp music covering the history and development of the genre, how to read shape notes using “fasola” solfège, important characteristics of Sacred Harp music, performance practice considerations, and sources for notated music.
Alison Allerton is Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Director of Choirs at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where she conducts the Women’s Chorale and Men’s Chorus and teaches courses in choral methods and secondary methods. Prior to her collegiate career, Dr. Allerton spent twelve years as a public school choral music educator in the Greenwich Public Schools in Greenwich, CT, where she was named a recipient of the Greenwich Public Schools Distinguished Teacher Award in 2010 and a recipient of the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award in 2007. Dr. Allerton’s more recent research interests include studying Sacred Harp music, including its associations with Southern Appalachia and rural communities, and the recent surge of popularity of Sacred Harp music in concertised choral settings. Dr. Allerton holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University, where she studied with Dr. John Dickson. She also holds a Master of Music in Music Education with an emphasis in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where she studibed with Dr. William Weinert, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from James Madison University.
Trey Davis is the Associate Director of Choral Studies and the Stephanie Landry Barineau Endowed Professor of Choral Studies at Louisiana State University where he conducts the LSU Women’s Chorale and the LSU Tiger Glee Club and teaches courses in graduate and undergraduate conducting and literature. Recent research interests include the choral works of David Lang, for which he is the recipient of the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize for outstanding research in choral music. Dr. Davis completed D.M.A. studies in choral conducting at Texas Tech University with Richard Bjella. He completed M.M. studies in choral conducting at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, serving as graduate assistant to the Symphonic Choir under Dr. Joe Miller. He holds a degree in music education from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.