FOREWORD
The week of December 2nd 2018 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Byzantine Choir of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh.
This webpage was created to serve as a repository of pictures of, and varia from the major events that shaped the overall evolution of the choir since its founding in December 1998. It began on, December 2nd 2018, and will be updated as we grow together and continue to offer this unique musical treasure to our region and to America.
Our 20 years and more of continuous service to the Metropolis have not gone unnoticed. From His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop Geron of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, His Eminence Demetrios, His Eminence Christodoulos of Athens and All-Greece (of late blessed memory), to renowned Protopsaltae, the choir has received numerous kind words and accolades for its diakonia to the church and its promotion of the chant tradition of the Great Church of Christ in the USA.
As we move past 20 years of continuous service, we are aware of the challenges that face chant tradition in the USA with the changing demographics and the evolution of the liturgical language away from the Greek. We look forward to meeting these challenges as we did when we first congregated in 1998, unsure about whether Byzantine chant would be well-received as an artistic and a liturgical element not only inside the Orthodox churches of our region (Western PA), but also as something to be shared with our American sister communities. We are confident that our seeds have borne an excellent fruit as our younger generation has taken on, and is now promoting this tradition which is none other than the cultural heritage of the Mother Church, the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople.
Please use the links in the menu to navigate to the specific time points in our history and to other relevant material.
For those interested in joining us, either to be part of the choir, to begin to learn Byzantine music in the strictest tradition of the Great Church of Christ, or to address gaps in knowledge and practice, we welcome you to join us. You may contact us via our Director, Dr. Nick Giannoukakis, at ngiann1@pitt.edu.
***The Choir would like to sincerely and fervently thank the American Hellenic Foundation of Western PA for generously hosting this ongoing biography, first on the 20th Anniversary of the inception of the choir (December 1998-2018) and then onwards.
The week of December 2nd 2018 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Byzantine Choir of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh.
This webpage was created to serve as a repository of pictures of, and varia from the major events that shaped the overall evolution of the choir since its founding in December 1998. It began on, December 2nd 2018, and will be updated as we grow together and continue to offer this unique musical treasure to our region and to America.
Our 20 years and more of continuous service to the Metropolis have not gone unnoticed. From His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop Geron of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, His Eminence Demetrios, His Eminence Christodoulos of Athens and All-Greece (of late blessed memory), to renowned Protopsaltae, the choir has received numerous kind words and accolades for its diakonia to the church and its promotion of the chant tradition of the Great Church of Christ in the USA.
As we move past 20 years of continuous service, we are aware of the challenges that face chant tradition in the USA with the changing demographics and the evolution of the liturgical language away from the Greek. We look forward to meeting these challenges as we did when we first congregated in 1998, unsure about whether Byzantine chant would be well-received as an artistic and a liturgical element not only inside the Orthodox churches of our region (Western PA), but also as something to be shared with our American sister communities. We are confident that our seeds have borne an excellent fruit as our younger generation has taken on, and is now promoting this tradition which is none other than the cultural heritage of the Mother Church, the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople.
Please use the links in the menu to navigate to the specific time points in our history and to other relevant material.
For those interested in joining us, either to be part of the choir, to begin to learn Byzantine music in the strictest tradition of the Great Church of Christ, or to address gaps in knowledge and practice, we welcome you to join us. You may contact us via our Director, Dr. Nick Giannoukakis, at ngiann1@pitt.edu.
***The Choir would like to sincerely and fervently thank the American Hellenic Foundation of Western PA for generously hosting this ongoing biography, first on the 20th Anniversary of the inception of the choir (December 1998-2018) and then onwards.