Music Store:
NEW CD! "Mountain Side"
Personal Favorites from Rise Up Singing
"Meet Me by the Moonlight"
Where Have All the Flowers Gone:
A Singalong Memoir - new edition!
including live recordings of his Solstice celebrations heard on NPR
NY Times article "Shared Song - Communal Memory" talks about Annie & Peter, the origins of Rise Up Singing & ways it's being used in singalong around the country.
So, what are Quakers? (And do they even sing???!!!)
Peter's Quakerism writings have been moved to a new website: InwardLight.org
Information on Quaker Spring has been moved to a new website:QuakerSpring.org
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Quakers (known formally as the Religious Society of Friends) are a small Christian denomination founded by George Fox in England in the 17th century. Friends place special emphasis on the direct ongoing access that they believe all people have to God within the heart. Over the past 350 years, Friends have developed some unique ways of attending to this divine voice in worship and in group decision-making. Quakers also have been known for their strong social "testimonies" for peace, equality, simplicity, integrity, and care for the Earth.
In the beginning, Friends (like the Puritans) were opposed to instrumental music. They also opposed singing psalms and hymns during worship because they considered this an empty form that got in the way of God directing worship spontaneously. These traditional positions (reflected in the film Friendly Persuasion where a group of elders to to visit a Quaker family because they have heard rumors that they have acquired an organ) has almost entirely disappeared today, other than resistance to choral singing during worship among many Friends.
Peter wrote an article in the Friends Journal on Singing Among FGC Friends (the branch of Quakers we are most involved in).
Annie and Peter are both active Friends. Annie taught art for many years at Goshen Friends School and served for many years on the Worship and Ministry committees. Annie has led workshops, on her own and with Peter, at Friends General Conference, a yearly gathering of Quakers in the United States and at several other Quaker conference centers. They have both travelled extensively among Friends in the United States, Canada, Britain, and New Zealand.
Peter is a graduate of a two year training program in spiritual direction at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He has taught Quakerism and Bible at Westtown School and has led numerous retreats and classes in Quakerism for Quaker meetings.
Annie & Peter are currently members of Mt. Toby Meeting located in Leverett MA. Their previous meeting, Middletown Meeting in Lima, PA, wrote a number of letters over the years in support of Annie & Peter's music ministry.
To find a Friends meeting near you, go to quakerfinder.org.
Peter's writings on Quakerism have been moved to a new website called inwardlight.org
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UPCOMING EVENTS & WORKSHOPS with Annie & Peter
WFCR interview with Peter and Annie. Hear us talk about sing-alongs and the origins of Rise Up Singing with live performances of several favorite songs. Northampton, MA Sat. Jan. 21 10am - 1pm NoHo Winter Farmer's Market, located in Thorne's basement. Annie Patterson & Mary Witt perform folk & Americana.
Easthampton MA Fri. Feb. 3rd - The Mic @ The Delaney House - Annie's 3-part harmony group, The Harmony Grits, will perform 7-11pm, Mary Witt, Dan Zuckergood, and Annie Patterson (guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass - Americana & Folk music)
Leverett MA Sat. Feb. 4th - No Nukes Benefit Concert & Speak Out. Leverett Town Hall, 9 Montague Rd, 2-9pm. Annie will sing 4 songs at 5:30pm. Info from Ann Ferguson 413-367-2310.
New York NY, Sat. May 5 - People's Voice Cafe, Community Church of NY, 40 E. 35th St (betw Madison & Park), 7pm. Annie & Peter will lead a sing along and Four Shillings Short is also on the bill this evening. 212-787-3903. Kingston RI, Fri. July 6 - We will be taking part in another performance of "The Fire & the Hammer" - which Peter organized & we both took part in at New England Yearly Meeting last August. The final evening plenary of the 2012 Friends General Conference summer gathering. Detailed information on the performance & applying to join the choir will be posted later on the FGC website.
See also swing performances Annie is doing with:
GIRLS FROM MARS and The O-TONES
promoting efforts to secure a Nobel Peace Prize for legendary folk singer & environmental & peace activist, Pete Seeger. A new edition of Seeger's autobiography (which Peter edited) is coming out this spring.
There are some great quotes from Pete on the power of group singing in the recent New York Times article on community sings around the country, many of which use Rise Up Singing.
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