Music
Sing Ye Carols: An Interview with Hierodeacon Herman
Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), Chapel Music Director and Lecturer in Liturgical Music at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, has started a small ministry during this Nativity fast – a series of Facebook posts highlighting lesser-known hymns and carols from the Western tradition. You can enjoy his posts here: Fr. Herman’s Choral Advent Calendar. We thought this a good…
Continue reading »St. Tikhon’s Monastery Reaches Out into the Culture through Sacred Music
The recent release of the CD Till Morn Eternal Breaks marks a number of laudable firsts: First and foremost, it is the debut CD comprised almost entirely of the choral works of American Orthodox composer Benedict Sheehan (b.1980), a gifted musician who has something important to say in ways that are both traditional and innovative. Second, it…
Continue reading »Building International Bridges Through Orthodox Sacred Music – A New CD from PaTRAM
The Patriarch Tikhon Choir Releases Its New CD In 2012, Vladimir Gorbik, the eminent Choirmaster of the Moscow Representation Church of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, came to North America for the first time to teach a master class on the interpretation of Russian Orthodox sacred choral music at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. After the success…
Continue reading »Till Morn Eternal Breaks
On November 9, a new recording by the Chamber Choir of St. Tikhon’s Monastery of original compositions and arrangements, entitled “Till Morn Eternal Breaks: Sacred Choral Music of Benedict Sheehan,” will go on sale from St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press. (To pre-order, visit stspress.com) The project is the first of its kind: a recording of new Orthodox music…
Continue reading »The Psalm 103 Project: A Status Report
It has been a little over two years since my last update on The Psalm 103 Project for Orthodox Arts Journal, so, perhaps now would be a good time to bring everybody up to speed again. The Psalm 103 Project, for those just now joining us, is a major undertaking of The Saint John of Damascus Society. It…
Continue reading »Travelogue: The International Society for Orthodox Church Music 2015
In June of 2014, I was a participant in Kurt Sander’s Pan-Orthodox Liturgical Music Symposium at Northern Kentucky University. While I was there, a gentleman whose acquaintance I had newly made, one David Lucs, on hand to give a presentation on children’s music education, was rather excitedly asking virtually everybody during a coffee break, “Are…
Continue reading »The State of Church Singing in America: An Interview with Choirmaster Benedict Sheehan
Editor’s Note: This interview appeared originally on pravoslavie.ru, with questions posed by Jesse Dominick. Benedict Sheehan is a composer, conductor, arranger, writer about, and teacher of, music. He currently plies his trade at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and Monastery, where, since 2010, he has taught Orthodox liturgical music and directed the choirs. Benedict is also a regular…
Continue reading »First PaTRAM Institute Moscow Choral Workshop Concludes
On the morning of September 2, 2015, 34 international guests gathered at the Moscow Podvorye of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra for a five day workshop and master class sponsored by the Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music (PaTRAM) Institute. As guests of the Podvorye, they worked with PaTRAM Artistic Director, Vladimir Gorbik, and joined members of…
Continue reading »Preserving Traditions: A Thread of Succession Survives in Moscow
In recent months, discussions posted on various blogs and other social media have brought to light the ongoing quest of Orthodox church musicians in North America to define more clearly their vocation and sense of professional identity. A good deal of discussion has focused on the desirability and necessity of establishing an Orthodox choir school.…
Continue reading »Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated — part VI, in which technical points are considered and a wrap-up is offered
This is post 6 of 6 in the series “Notes from The Psalterion” Richard Barrett gives us practical advice for the discipline of liturgical music in a local parish context. Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated – Part I, First Principles Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated – Part II, Getting Started Notes…
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