ABOUT US

The Mission of the Axion Estin Foundation (AEF)

Axion Estin Foundation's mission is to promote the appreciation, education and employment of Byzantine music in North America. The Foundation seeks to stimulate attention and study of this art form through its unique network between the large constituency of Greek academics and musicians and their North American counterparts in Byzantine music and beyond. The Foundation realizes this mission through conferences, education programs, research initiatives, and publications, and strives to engage and educate an increasingly diverse international audience through its cultural partnerships. A related goal is to institutionalize the teaching of Byzantine music at the university level by establishing a program in Byzantine Music Studies. AEF believes that the momentum generated by a series of successful symposiums on Byzantine music education in the New York area will be helpful in achieving that goal.

Through its first conference in 2006, as through its public radio programming during the past years, AEF aimed to create a community of friends of Byzantine Music in the U.S. This community is open and welcoming, growing and demanding, and most importantly one that does not impose any barriers to newcomers - religious or other. One of the most impressive outcomes of AEF's 2006 conference is the collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in organizing the return engagement of The Greek Byzantine Choir at the museum. Based on the progress so far with its first conference, it is safe to assume that AEF's next symposium will generate even more significant and long-lasting results.

Trustees and Officers

Legal Status

The Axion Estin Foundation (AEF), Inc. (AEF) was incorporated in November 2005 pursuant to the Not-for-Profits Corporation Law of the State of New York.