BYZANTINE CHANT INSTITUTE CONVENES
Workshop Features Guest Scholars
Dr. Alexander Lingas and Archimandrite Ephrem (Lash)
Leading Byzantine Cantors
Intimate Instructional Sessions • Idyllic Ranch Setting
The Saint John Koukouzelis Institute for Liturgical Arts presents another intensive week-long workshop in Byzantine Chant and Liturgy, to take place at St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center in Dunlap, California, April 22-28. Instruction in Byzantine Music, both in the original Greek and in English translation, will be directed by John Michael Boyer, Protopsaltis (First Cantor) of the Metropolis of San Francisco. Also teaching will be Stelios Kontakiotis, Protopsaltis and Music Director of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Washington, D.C. and Constantine Kokenes, Byzantine Music Instructor for the Metropolis of Atlanta and Lambadarios (Left Cantor) of Annunciation Cathedral in Atlanta. This year’s special honored guest is one of the world’s leading scholars in Byzantine Musicology, Dr. Alexander Lingas. Returning to the Institute will be Archimandrite Ephrem (Lash) of St. Andrew’s Monastery in Manchester, England, who will be Chaplain and Spiritual Advisor for the week. Students of all levels of experience will spend the week immersed in Byzantine Music and in the liturgical life of the Church. The daily program will include instruction sessions on both music and liturgy, chapel services, and a lecture each evening by either Dr. Lingas or Archimandrite Ephrem. Dr. Lingas is Lecturer at City University in London and Artistic Director of the world-renowned vocal ensemble Cappella Romana. He will be speaking on the history and meaning of liturgy, music’s function in liturgy, and the role of Church musicians. Dr. Lingas’s work can be found in the New Grove Dictionary of Music, The Oxford Companion to Music, and Einaudi’s Enciclopedia della musica. His scholarly articles on Byzantine music treat a broad range of topics ranging chronologically from Late Antiquity to the present. His forthcoming projects include a study of Sunday Matins in the rite of Hagia Sophia for Ashgate Publishing and a general introduction to the history of Byzantine chant for the Yale University Press. The registration fee of $599 includes tuition, meals and lodging for 6 days and nights at the Ranch. Spaces will be limited and scholarships may be available. Set in the rolling hills of California's Central Valley near King’s Canyon National Park, St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center is home to the Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring (Zoodochos Pigi) www.stnicholasranch.org. For more information, contact Protopsaltis John Michael Boyer at (510) 717-1248, protopsaltis@koukouzelis.org, or St. Nicholas Ranch at (559) 338-2103, info@stnicholasranch.org.
MARCH 15, 17 & 22 2007
The Josquin Singers, a professional vocal ensemble based in the Bay Area, present “The Gates of Repentance: Lenten Music from the Byzantine and Slavic Traditions,” a free concert in cooperation with the St. John Koukouzelis Institute for Liturgical Arts and sponsored in part by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco. Some of the most elegant and profound music ever created comes out of the Lenten period of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. This program will include Byzantine chants, including the famed “Great Troparion,” by the 9th century composer Kassiane the Nun and excerpts from the “Great Canon” of St. Andrew of Crete (7th-8th centuries); and Slavic chants and polyphony, including selections of Dvestmenny polyphony and compositions by Peter Tchaikovsky.
The program will be performed Thursday, March 15th in San Francisco at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, 3281 16th Street; Saturday, March 17th at Sacramento’s Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 600 Alhambra Blvd.; and Thursday, March 22 in Oakland at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, 4700 Lincoln Ave, as part of The Greek Cultural Celebration Week. Admission is free; suggested donation is $15.
About the Josquin Singers
Founded in Berkeley in 2002, the Josquin Singers are a professional vocal ensemble specializing in Josquin and other Medieval and Renaissance music of Western Europe, and in the repertoires of the Eastern Orthodox Church, including Chants of the Greek Byzantine tradition as well as Slavic chant and polyphony from periods ranging 500 years. The ensemble’s performances of Byzantine Chant are sung from transcriptions by artistic director John Michael Boyer, who is Protopsaltis (First Cantor) of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, and alumnus of the Music Department of the University of California, Berkeley.
The Josquin Singers’ mission is to present, in a setting affordable to the public, stellar performances of ecclesiastical vocal repertoire ranging from the ensemble’s namesake Josquin de Prez to the rarely-heard chant and polyphonic traditions of the Greek and Slavic churches.
PROTOPSALTIS JOHN MICHAEL BOYER TO LECTURE
AT ARCHANGEL BOOKSTORE IN SAN FRANCISCO'S SUNSET DISTRICT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20
SAINT JOHN KOUKOUZELIS CHOIR TO SING
AT SAN FRANCISCO'S GREEK FESTVIAL
SEPTEMBER 29 - OCTOBER 1
Members of the St. John Koukouzelis Choir, the performing choir of the Koukouzelis Insititute, will be performing short demonstrations each day of Annunciation Cathedral's annual Greek Festival, San Francisco's only festival of Greek food and culture. Demonstrations will be given in the afternoon and evening of each day of the festival, September 29, 30 and October 1. The festival will take place at Annunciation Cathedral, 245 Valencia St. in the Mission district of San Francisco. For more information, call the Annunciation Cathedral at (415) 864-8000 or email Institute director John Michael Boyer at protopsaltis@koukouzelis.org.
BYZANTINE CHANT INSTITUTE CONVENES
AT ST. NICHOLAS RANCH AUGUST 6-12
Workshop Features Guest Scholar
Archimandrite Ephrem (Lash) of
St. Andrew's Monastery in Manchester, England
The Saint John Koukouzelis Institute for Liturgical Arts, a ministry of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, presents an intensive week-long workshop in Byzantine Chant and Liturgy to take place at St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center in Dunlap, California, August 6-12.
Students of all levels of experience, ages 15 and up will spend the week immersed in Byzantine Music and in the liturgical life of the Church. The daily program includes two instruction sessions, chapel services and a lecture each evening by guest scholar and Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne, the Very Reverend Fr. Ephrem (Lash) of the Monastery of St. Andrew in Manchester, England. Fr. Ephrem will be speaking on topics of music, liturgy, language and translation, and the role of Church musicians. Samples of Fr. Ephrem's work can be found at www.anastasis.org.uk. Instruction in Byzantine Music, both in the original Greek and in translation, will be directed by John Michael Boyer, Protopsaltis (First Cantor) of the Metropolis of San Francisco, along with other prominent cantors from the Archdiocese.
The registration fee of $625 includes tuition, materials, meals and lodging for 6 days and nights at the idyllic Ranch. Spaces will be limited and scholarships may be available. Set in the rolling hills of California's Central Valley near Yosemite National Park, St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center is home to the Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring (Zoodochos Pigi) www.stnicholasranch.org. For more information, contact Protopsaltis John Michael Boyer at (510) 717-1248, protopsaltis@yahoo.com, or St. Nicholas Ranch at (559) 338-2103, info@stnicholasranch.org.