Unexpected Colonial American Composers: The Sisters of the Ephrata Cloister

The Ephrata Cloister, founded in 1732 by Conrad Beissel, was a celibate, ascetic, German-speaking, Sabbatarian commune in the wilderness of Pennsylvania. Its residents produced a large corpus of choral hymns and motets and also published the third music treatise written in what is today the United States of America. This presentation will introduce the attendees to some photographs of the musical manuscripts held in libraries throughout Pennsylvania and beyond. It will also discuss the process by which Ephrata composers wrote hymns, in reference to their music treatise. Finally, it will reveal evidence indicating that Ephrata’s solitary sisters wrote some of the hymns, establishing their status as American composers. Christopher Dylan Herbert is the head of the voice program and the Honors Music Track Director at William Paterson University.

Members $10, General Admission $15