I said I’d post an update when this happened, and I’m probably a little late on doing so, but nonetheless, As Far as the East is from the West, featuring the choral music of Kurt Sander and Gennadiy Lapaev, is now available for purchase from several outlets, both as a CD and as a download. Buy early, buy often — it’s good stuff.
Posts Tagged 'why do we need beautiful music in churches?'
The Sander/Lapaev sessions, a year later
Published 28 July 2011 General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith 1 CommentTags: alix ptichka, american orthodox music, anna egan, as far as the east is from the west, chant, ecclesiastical chant, gennadiy lapaev, gennady lapaev, gregg staples, hazards of church music, joseph milos, kurt sander, larissa sander, liturgical music, maria greendyk, music as iconography, new choral music, nicholas androsoff, nicky kotar, northern kentucky university, peter jermihov, pros and cons of kievan common chant, random acts of chant, sacred music, scott wyatt, tim bruno, tim oliver, vadim gan, why do we need beautiful music in churches?, will huffer, zhenya temidis
I got home from the Sacred Music Institute at the Antiochian Village on Sunday evening (which will be worthy of its own blog post eventually) to find six copies waiting for me of the CD that represents the fruits of the four days of recording on the Northern Kentucky University campus last August. As Far as the East is from the West is not yet available for purchase — that will probably be in September; keep an eye on this page for details, and I’ll certainly post an update when it happens — but all of us who sang have our copies, as well as a handful of extras to give away.
Since I’m on the recording, I don’t think I can ethically review it, but I will say that having listened to it, much as was the case when I drove home from the sessions, it’s a project of which I’m very grateful to have been a part. The recording sounds very much how I expected it to sound based on the sessions, and my only real disappointment is that the liner notes (written by one Sergey Furmanov) mention that the choir included “church musicians from parishes in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, Montreal, and Philadelphia,” but, alas, leaves off Bloomington. Oh well, you can’t have everything.
In any event, my sincere hope is that this CD helps to kindle a more general interest in both Kurt Sander’s and Gennady Lapaev’s music in this country, and one way or the other it is a document of some wonderful examples of current Orthodox liturgical music, as well as a reminder of treasured memories.
Help Cappella Romana record their concert in Greece!
Published 28 July 2011 General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith Leave a CommentTags: byzantine chant, cappella romana, chant, ecclesiastical chant, hazards of church music, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, music as iconography, random acts of chant, sacred music, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
So, Cappella Romana is singing not one, but two concerts in Greece in September — one at the 11th Annual Sacred Music Festival of Patmos, Greece, and at the 6th-century Church of 100 Doors, Paros. They are hoping to record the Paros concert, and they have set up a Kickstarter project to try to raise the funds quickly. They are a good chunk of the way there, but I encourage you to support them — this is a really exciting opportunity for them, and it would be a fantastic addition to their recorded library.
Audio from Orthodox Music Symposium now on Ancient Faith Radio
Published 27 January 2011 Academia , General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith 1 CommentTags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, early music institute, ecclesiastical chant, ethnomusicologists, ethnomusicology, friends of music at all saints, hazards of church music, indiana humanities council, john michael boyer, kurt sander, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, national forum of greek orthodox church musicians, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, vicki pappas, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
The talks from “We Knew Not If We Were In Heaven Or On Earth: Music, Liturgy, and Beauty in Orthodox Christianity” are now posted on Ancient Faith Radio’s website. Many thanks to John Maddex for making them available through this medium! Also, photos from the event can be viewed here — thanks to Anna Pougas for being the day’s official (more or less) photographer!
Orthodox Music Symposium at Indiana University — “We knew not if we were in heaven or on earth…”: Music, Liturgy, and Beauty in Orthodox Christianity
Published 29 September 2010 Academia , General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith , Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, early music institute, ecclesiastical chant, ethnomusicologists, ethnomusicology, friends of music at all saints, hazards of church music, indiana humanities council, john michael boyer, kurt sander, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, national forum of greek orthodox church musicians, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, vicki pappas, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
Given that there are two performing members of Cappella Romana on the panel, as well as two composers whom CR has performed, CR was nice enough to include a notice about the Symposium in their current e-newsletter (thank you, Mark!). For those readers clicking through to my blog for information (and anybody else who is finding this site looking for Symposium details), here’s the scoop:
All Saints Orthodox Church and The Early Music Institute of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music present:
The Musical Heritage of the Orthodox Church
“We knew not if we were in heaven or on earth…”: Music, liturgy, and beauty in Orthodox Christianity
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Sweeney Hall (Simon Music Center 015)
Lecture recitals and panel discussion featuring:
- John Michael Boyer of Cappella Romana
- Alexander Khalil, Ph. D., of University of California at San Diego
- Kurt Sander, D. M., of Northern Kentucky University
- Richard Toensing, D. M., emeritus of University of Colorado at Boulder
Schedule:
- 8:00am: Hall opens
- 8:30am: Brief introductory remarks
- 9:00: Boyer
- 10:00: Khalil
- 11:00-11:30: Break
- 11:30: Sander
- 12:30: Toensing
- 1:30: Panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Vicki Pappas, National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians National Chairman
Download a poster here. Download a press release here.
This program has been made possible by a matching grant from the Indiana Humanities Council, in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional co-sponsors include:
- The IU Medieval Studies Institute
- The IU Center for Middle East Studies (a unit so new there’s no website yet!)
- The IU Russian and East European Institute
- The IU Center for West European Studies
- The IU Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology
- Bloomingfoods Market and Deli
- The National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians
- The Department of Sacred Music of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
For any additional information, please e-mail me at rrbarret (AT) indiana.edu or call me at (812) 219-0286.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Orthodox Music Symposium at Indiana University a recipient of grant from the National Form of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians
Published 27 September 2010 Academia , General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith 1 CommentTags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, early music institute, ecclesiastical chant, ethnomusicologists, ethnomusicology, friends of music at all saints, hazards of church music, indiana humanities council, john michael boyer, kurt sander, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, national forum of greek orthodox church musicians, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, vicki pappas, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
I just found out this evening that we are the recipient of a grant from the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians. As with all the other organizations that have been generous in supporting us, I’m incredibly grateful, but it is wonderful to see our little event, intended to represent a cross-section of musical heritages of the Orthodox world, be supported across jurisdictional lines. Dr. Vicki Pappas, National Chairman of the National Forum, cited this as a factor in the award letter:
The members felt that while it was unusual for us to support an individual parish and one not within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s jurisdiction, we also felt that your plans were cross-jurisdictional and served to highlight and benefit Orthodox church musicians in general to a very high degree.
In a way, the National Forum grant application is what got this going in the first place. Originally I had just planned on having John Boyer and Kurt Sander, and then I helped another organization write a National Forum grant proposal. While I was writing it, I realized — “Hey! I could apply for one of these too! And actually, if I expanded the slate of speakers, I’d have a better proposal!” So I checked with Alexander Khalil and Dr. Toensing to see if they were up for it — they were, and I submitted the application. After that, I got to thinking — “You know, I have a finished grant proposal sitting on my hard drive that I might be able to tailor for other organizations.” So, I started looking around to see what else might be out there, and — well, things happened from there.
All of this is to say, I’m really thrilled that the grant proposal that started the ball rolling to begin with bore fruit in the end. Thank you very much, Dr. Pappas and the National Forum!
Orthodox Music Symposium at Indiana University recipient of Humanities Initiative Grant from the Indiana Humanities Council
Published 24 September 2010 Academia , General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith Leave a CommentTags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, early music institute, ecclesiastical chant, ethnomusicologists, ethnomusicology, friends of music at all saints, hazards of church music, indiana humanities council, john michael boyer, kurt sander, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
Between school, the symposium, and Flesh of My Flesh being on her yearlong adventure in Germany, my life has been pretty much consumed on all fronts as of late, but I found out some fantastic news tonight that I wanted to make sure was disseminated as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
The symposium has been awarded a $2,000 Humanities Initiative Grant from the Indiana Humanities Council. I found out about this particular funding opportunity back in July, and as the deadline was 2 August I had to assemble the application very quickly (not to mention while I was in the middle of Kurt Sander’s recording project), but Prof. Rosemarie McGerr, the director of IU’s Medieval Studies Institute, and Mark Trotter, the Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator for IU’s Russian and East European Institute, were very helpful and generous with their time, and provided wonderful letters of support for the proposal. After I hit “send” in the Starbucks in NKU’s student union building, there was nothing but to keep working on other sponsorship possibilities, and hold my breath.
In many ways I am less excited about the financial support than I am thrilled that the merit of what we’re putting together is being visibly acknowledged. I look at this as a huge step forward in terms of forging a relationship between All Saints and the university where together we can put together events that cultivate interest in Orthodox Christianity and raise awareness that All Saints exists in the first place. This is an academic event, yes, and it seems to me that there is much that an Orthodox parish in a college town should be able to offer in terms of intellectual and cultural interest, but it is also as a form of outreach to the campus. This is a way of being able to say, “Come and see.” Or, in this case, “Come and hear.”
It’s also a demonstration that support is out there for projects like this, and that All Saints doesn’t have to be the little church in the middle of nowhere that everybody ignores. I’m supposed to write letters to Indiana’s congressional delegation so that they know this is happening, since this is ultimately federal money. Yes, there is an Orthodox church in Bloomington, and even our congressmen know it!
By the way, if you aren’t able to attend the symposium but still want to support us in some way, please get in touch with me. Even with the IHC grant, there are still plenty of opportunities to be involved from afar. Drop me a line at rrbarret (AT) indiana.edu.
I guess this is technically publicity for the symposium, so that means I have to include this text: This program has been made possible through a matching grant from the Indiana Humanities Council in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
An update on the IU Orthodox Music Symposium
Published 3 September 2010 Academia , General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith Leave a CommentTags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, early music institute, ecclesiastical chant, ethnomusicologists, ethnomusicology, friends of music at all saints, hazards of church music, john michael boyer, kurt sander, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
Some additional details on the Orthodox Music Symposium being held on the Indiana University campus:
- The event will be titled, “The Musical Heritage of the Orthodox Church: Music, Liturgy, and Beauty in Orthodox Christianity”.
- It will be in Sweeney Hall (Simon Center 015) at the IU Jacobs School of Music.
- A tentative schedule is as follows:
- 8am: Hall opens
- 8:00-8:30: Continental breakfast (incentive to come early!)
- 8:30-8:50: Introductory remarks
- 9:00-9:50: Lecture recital #1 (we haven’t yet determined the speaker order)
- 10:00-10:50: Lecture recital #2
- 11:00-11:30: Break
- 11:30-12:20: Lecture recital #3
- 12:30-1:20: Lecture recital #4
- 1:30-2:30: Panel discussion and Q&A
I also pleased to announce some additional sponsorships:
- The Department of Sacred Music of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Many thanks to the chairman of the Department, Christopher Holwey, for their generous support.
- The Center for Middle East Studies at Indiana University — an academic unit so new they don’t have a website yet! Dr. Feisal Istrabadi, the director of CMES, has been very enthusiastic about this project, and I am grateful for his excitement.
- The Center for West European Studies at Indiana University. WEST is the home of the Modern Greek program at IU, and they were instrumental in making John’s visit to All Saints back in January happen. Their ongoing support of these kinds of things is a real gift to the Orthodox community in Bloomington.
There are some additional irons in the fire where support is concerned that I hope to be able to announce in the near future. In the meantime, I can also say that one organization in particular, while feeling it was too late to get involved this time around, said that they would be very interested in supporting future projects like this, and asked what I might be thinking about. I told them something I had in mind, and they nodded vigorously and said, “Yes, that’s exactly the kind of thing we want to get behind.” So, we’ll see what happens. I am hopeful that the outcome of this development will also be positive with respect to these kinds of events.
In the meantime, if you want more information or are interested in supporting the Symposium, please contact me at rrbarret (AT) indiana.edu or call me at (812) 219-0286.
SAVE THE DATE: Orthodox Music Symposium at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Published 13 August 2010 Academia , General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith Leave a CommentTags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, early music institute, ecclesiastical chant, ethnomusicologists, ethnomusicology, friends of music at all saints, hazards of church music, john michael boyer, kurt sander, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
I am pleased to announce that, with the co-sponsorship of All Saints Orthodox Church, of the Early Music Institute at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the IU Medieval Studies Institute, and the IU Russian and East European Institute, as well as support from Bloomingfoods, the IU Bloomington campus will host a daylong symposium on Orthodox music on Saturday, 16 October 2010. Details are still being finalized, but the program will include lecture recitals and a panel discussion from the following slate of speakers and performers:
John Michael Boyer, Protopsaltis of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco. Mr. Boyer is also Protopsaltis and Director of Liturgy for Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Sacramento, CA, principal singer and arranger for Cappella Romana, and Director of the St. John Koukouzelis Institute for Liturgical Arts. Mr. Boyer previously gave a weekend workshop on Byzantine chant at All Saints Orthodox Church in January of this year.
Alexander Khalil, PhD, psaltis at St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in San Diego, CA, and postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Khalil’s recent dissertation explores the aural aspects of the chant tradition of the last remaining chanters of the church of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul, Turkey. He has contributed as a cantor to recent efforts of both Cappella Romana and the Mount Lebanon Choir, and has taught at workshops for the Koukouzelis Institute.
Kurt Sander, DM, Associate Professor and Department Chair at Northern Kentucky University. Dr. Sander is a composer of many liturgical works in the traditional Slavic style, and his research interests include the history and aesthetics of Orthodox liturgical music, the cross disciplinary relationships between theology and Orthodox iconography with music composition, and the work of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
Richard Toensing, DM, Professor Emeritus at University of Colorado at Boulder. As a composer, Dr. Toensing has received many distinguished honors for his work, having been a Guggenheim Fellow and a recipient of a commission from the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Toensing’s composition Kontakion for the Nativity of Christ, as well as his cycle of Orthodox Christmas carols, were recently recorded and performed by Cappella Romana.
All events will be free and open to the public.
More details will be announced as they solidify, but mark your calendars! For more information, or if you wish to help support the project, please contact me by e-mail at rrbarret (AT) indiana.edu.
Watch this space!
End-of-fiscal-year appeal from Cappella Romana
Published 22 June 2010 General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith Leave a CommentTags: byzantine chant, cappella romana, chant, ecclesiastical chant, hazards of church music, liturgical music, medieval byzantine chant, music as iconography, new choral music, random acts of chant, sacred music, why do we need beautiful music in churches?
I thought it important to pass on that Cappella Romana is doing a last-minute fundraising push before 30 June, the end of their fiscal year.
You can give to their general operating fund, and/or you can designate gifts toward one of the four recordings they are working on releasing in the near future:
- Byzantine Chant from Mt. Sinai (hopefully to be released in April of 2011 in time for Cappella’s 20th anniversary)
- Tikey Zes Divine Liturgy
- Robert Kyr: A Time for Life
- Arctic Light: Finnish Orthodox Music
For my part, I believe that CR deserves a lot of support; they are pretty much the only ensemble in this country representing the repertoire they sing. Besides that, music was certainly a huge factor, a “gateway drug” if you will, with regard to my eventual conversion to the Orthodox Christian faith, and Cappella Romana was a big part of that in several respects. The evangelical value of what they do should not be underestimated, at least in my view.
Please consider making a gift. You can do so online here, or you can also send a check to Cappella Romana, 3131 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97232 USA.
Leitourgeia kai Qurbana: Contra den Zeitgeist 