Beesontown Singers to present concert for National Road Festival
The Beesontown Singers will present a concert on May 12 in honor of this year’s National Road Festival. The concert is intended to set the tone for the week’s activities and to present a sampling of the various styles of music popular during the 18th and 19th centuries when the westward bound wagon trains traveled the Old National Road through Fayette County.
With a theme of “Harps Eternal,” the concert will feature choral arrangements of pieces from the early singing schools of America, particularly those in the style of “The Sacred Harp.”
Songs of the Revolutionary War from the New England Psalm-Singer of William Billings will be performed, plus familiar hymn and spiritual arrangements by Alice Parker.
“Harps Eternal” will be presented at 7 p.m. on May 12 in the sanctuary of the historic Asbury United Methodist Church, corner of Dunbar Street and South Beeson Avenue. The performance site is significant in that the Beesontown Singers are named for the Beeson family, founders of “Beesontown,” which was eventually named Uniontown. The location of one of the original Beeson homes was not far from Asbury Church on Beeson Avenue. The Beesontown Singers are all auditioned singers from the surrounding area who are committed to preserving the choral arts for future generations. Associate conductors, William Dreucci and James Hutchinson, are assisted by accompanist Joy Hertlein.
The concert will be free and open to the public. Asbury Church is handicapped accessible. More information about the concert or the Beesontown Singers is available by e-mail at music119@verizon.net.