Sacred Nine Project

I hope you enjoy these original songs that really grapple with what to do with the legacy of problematic artists like Foster.

Foster’s Foils is coming up on Tuesday June 9 at The Woods House in Pittsburgh! If you want to donate comp tickets, please visit here!

This is a look into my composer/lyricist process. Enjoy! Let me know how your process is the same or different! Looking forward to presenting this once it’s finished in Pittsburgh in June!

My guest is Bruce Dorsey, Professor of History, Swarthmore College. Please learn more about him and his work here! Check back for the American Martyr concert premiere video here .

Let me know if you have any other points to make about good or bad song lyrics. Email me at leonard@sacrednine.com . To support our Stephen Foster retrospective at University of Pittsburgh in June, please to here!

Join me as I discuss the insidious hold of Christian Nationalism on our country with guest, Paige Davis of the St. Charles Center for Faith + Action You can also SEE the Bogus Broadside in all it’s Faux Antique Glory at https://sacrednine.com/broadsides

Please help us write a new National Anthem by filling out this survey! ! Also, donate to help my Stephen Foster Retrospective at University of Pittsburgh in June 2026!

The heroine of Hannah & Her Daughters used a saying “I am a good mind.” I reimagine this saying in this episode. It’s a short episode but full of heart.

To learn more about Hannah and Her Daughters, visit here. We really need financial support as you will hear at the top of this episode. Please consider giving by clicking here!

We talk about a lot of things…Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, but especially William Billings and his “erroneously” telling his readers to pair a text with tunes THAT DON’T MATCH! Did we crack the mystery? You can read and link to Chris’ accomplishments here, and please check out his new book, “Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship.”

This week, we sit down with Diane Lala, our director for Carousel. We talk about how we navigate the issues of domestic violence and suicide. We also talk about her history with Summer Lyric Theatre.

This is a joint episode with my new podcast, Summer Lyric & Lore. The overlap here is the issue of how to, in our modern day, produce a play with such a problematic depiction of domestic violence.

“The Romish Lady,” trad., arr. C. Leonard Raybon Sacred Nine Singers Eric Anderson, soloist Journey Schaubhut, soloist

This is Sacred Nine Project: Words of Welkin, offered with no introduction. This was offered on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at Rayne Memorial Methodist Church. It is essential that you follow along in the program because you will not be able to understand all the words if you don’t. You will see that early hymnody was, well….troubling. You can find that program HERE . Tomorrow is giveNOLA day. If you wan...

As a child I was traumatized by the Second Coming. At any given moment, Christ may pierce the skies. If so, you’d better be saved. But in my culture, you never really know if you’re saved; if you sin too much, you wonder if you were really saved to begin with. Now that I’ve evolved from that, I wonder if being left behind might be an opportunity to roll up my sleeves and really get to work.

We talk to the originator of these songs, Journey Schaubhut, a trans man, who gives us insights in his “journey” in transitioning gender as well as voice part. We are so grateful for this! I had chosen him because the logo for the concert was a Colonial boy and I thought his participation was just right. To fill out the survey for our “Altar Call” concert, please visit here!

Sorry but this is kind of a downer. It’s about the state of our country. But the music I provide is sensational, thanks to the Sacred Nine Singers! Also, you will hear in the episode about how I want you to share your “alter call phrases with me.” If you want to do that, visit here.

Here you will learn the different things I consider and the several things that challenge me when I am writing texts!

IMPORTANT: At the point in the episode where I start asking the audience to vote for the “fake song,” pause the episode, visit https://sacrednine.com/demon and tell us which one YOU think is the fake! Our wonderful performers are: Meredith Hotard, Soprano Ashley Lemmler, Alto Yours Truly, Tenor Joseph Mace, Bass

I will share with you several artifacts associated with Watts, including three girls samplers, on which Watts' texts are embroidered. I also share with you my first published piece, sung by the Sacred Nine Singers! To view pics of the artifacts, visit https://sacrednine.com/podguestnews

Sacred Nine will be traveling to Swarthmore college on Good Friday, 2026 to "beatify" the brutally murdered Sarah Maria Cornell. Inspiration came from Murder in a Mill Town by Bruce Dorsey, Professor of History at Swarthmore. Ellen Blue helps us understand the kind of religious atmosphere Cornell would have experienced. https://sacrednine.com/giving https://sacrednine.com/martyr

our guest's website: www:// karriegaspard.com https://sacrednine.com Sacred Nine's satire of Christian Nationalism

In 2021, after having virtually eliminated the singing of Spirituals from my career, I decided to take a deep dive, asking African American scholars and performers their thoughts on whites singing Spirituals. Original presentation video

In 2021, after having virtually eliminated the singing of Spirituals from my career, I decided to take a deep dive, asking African American scholars and performers their thoughts on whites singing Spirituals. Original presentation video

Get to know Hannah Hadassah Hickok Smith with me. A fascinating woman and worthy of song! I will develop a Sacred Nine Project about her "if I live," as she would say! Check out Sacred Nine Project: The Mending Sampler, which is referenced in this episode. Check out the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History & the Historical Society of Glastonbury !