2006 Conference Report

On January 20 and 21, 2006, the Axion Estin Foundation (AEF) hosted its first conference on Byzantine music in America at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in New Rochelle, New York. The theme of the conference was "Identifying Byzantine Music Teaching Methodologies Most Appropriate for America." Several notable experts in Byzantine music from around the world were invited to speak at the conference, most notably Lycourgos Angelopoulos, Archon Protopsaltis of the Holy Archdiocese of Constantinople and founder/director of the Greek Byzantine Choir; Dr. Achillefs Chaldaiakis, Professor at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Athens, Greece; Photios Ketsetzis, Professor of Byzantine Ecclesiastical Music, Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts; and Dr. Alex Lingas, Professor of Music History at the City University of London, England, and founder/director of Cappella Romana. Other important speakers at the conference were Dr. Diane Touliatos of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Hieromonk Fr. Seraphim Dedes of St. Gregory Palamas Monastery in Mansfield, Ohio, Dr. Vicki Pappas, President of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, Dr. George Stefanidakis, Chairman of the Committee on Byzantine Music of the National Forum, and Nancy Takis, a chanter, linguist, and transcriber of Byzantine music into English.

Many fine historical, academic, and practical points were made by these speakers, which contributed to an air of openness and discussion during the entire conference. The inclusion of the National Forum helped to open up a dialogue between seemingly opposing viewpoints on Church music performance and contributed to a better understanding of the situation in America. The conference participants learned that they really do share many things in common, despite musical and cultural disparities. Dr. Lingas started things off with a historical analysis of the musical situation in North America, which was followed by a presentation by Dr. Chaldaiakis on how Byzantine music is taught in Greece. Members of the National Forum spoke next. Dr. Pappas gave a brief outline of the Forum's activities in Byzantine music. Fr. Seraphim delivered a talk on the challenges of translating, composing, and teaching Byzantine music in English. Dr. Stefanidakis discussed the uses of computers and technology in teaching chant, and Nancy Takis explained how the misuse of English contributes to misunderstanding of the rules of Byzantine theory. She also outlined many of the problems that are facing American chanters and offered some suggestions on how to deal with them.

The afternoon session on Saturday began with a report on the state of Byzantine music education in the universities of the United States by Dr. Touliatos. This was followed by a keynote address by Lycourgos Angelopoulos on the systematic teaching of Byzantine music. The Sunday sessions began with a presentation of Photios Ketsetzis on the musical theology of worship and its teaching in theological schools. This was followed by educational reports of Dr. Nicholas Giannoukakis, which was read to the assembly by Areti Tsiola, and Paul Combitsis on efforts to establish chanting schools in America. The last presentation was by Ioannis Papachristos on teaching Byzantine music to the visually impaired, which was also read to the assembly by Ms. Tsiola. The final conference session consisted of a panel discussion of each of the main speakers followed by questions from conference participants.

The conference opened on Saturday morning with registration and a breakfast that allowed conference speakers and attendees to become acquainted with one another. It was a time for greeting familiar faces, making new friends, and enjoying wonderful food. This was the first of several mealtime breaks. The discussions and the networking that occurred during these breaks proved very valuable in creating ideas and understanding between people who all share a love and passion for Greek Orthodox liturgical music. Musical entertainment was also provided at the meals. On Saturday afternoon a musical group consisting of Mavrothis Kontanis on the oud, Phaedon Sinis on the tarhu, and Timothy Quigley, percussion, accompanied Greek folk singing by Dr. Chaldaiakis and Eleftherios Eleftheriadis. This performance demonstrated the kinship Byzantine music has with Greek traditional music. On Saturday evening, Anna Paidoussi, soprano, sang several Greek songs accompanied on the piano by Petros Hatjopoulos. The Sunday luncheon featured a performance of Bach and Beethoven by pianist Yiannis Potamoussis. After the meal, the conference attendees had the honor of being addressed by His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of America.

The lectures and speeches were interspersed with many fine performances of traditional Byzantine music, which were beautiful and inspiring to hear. Some of the performers were, Photios Ketsetzis, Dr. Chaldaiakis, John Michael Boyer, Paul Combitsis, and others, accompanied by choirs and ison-holders. In addition to these, conference participants also performed music at two services. On Saturday evening, the Office of Vespers was celebrated at the Church of Our Savior in East Rye, New York, with Rev. Fr. Elias G. Villis presiding. Dr. Chaldaiakis served as protopsaltis and Mr. Eleftheriadis as lambadarios. At the Sunday Orthros and Divine Liturgy several conference participants made up the two choirs. Lycourgos Angelopoulos led the right choir, and Stelios Kontakiotis of St. Sophia Cathedral in Washington, D. C. led the left choir. The left choir featured many of Fr. Seraphim's English language transcriptions. These services were celebrated by Archbishop Demetrios and provided an experience rare in America: a complete hierarchical liturgy with authentic antiphonal Byzantine chanting.

Regarding the content of the presentation and discussions, several speakers independently overlapped each other in their points. That is to say, without any pre-collaboration, they managed to come up with many of the same conclusions. For example, when Mrs. Takis was discussing the challenges of using English, she mentioned how English was full of one-syllable words and pointed out the problems this causes. The next day, when Archbishop Demetrios addressed the group, he made the very same point. There were many situations like this. An important concept outlined by Mr. Ketsetzis was echoed by many others. He lectured upon the pre-eminent position of the text and how it shapes everything - melody, yphos, notation, etc. This helped to emphasize a point by Mrs. Takis that English text will shape music differently from Greek text.

In addition to this, many little known facts were presented, illuminating the common knowledge of the assembly. For example, Dr. Lingas explained the reasons for the direction Church music took in America during the early to mid Twentieth Century. Dr. Chaldaiakis spoke about many of the most important aspects of Byzantine music that are emphasized in the academies of Greece. Mr. Angelopoulos outlined the teaching methods of the Simon Karas school of Byzantine chant instruction. Dr. Touliatos exposed the prejudices of the Western educational establishment in the teaching of Eastern civilization. Fr. Dedes discussed the preservation of traditional musical practices, sharing many of his experiences on Mt. Athos and in American monasteries.

During the last question and answer session, Mr. Boyer delivered a passioned appeal to the National Forum to accept classical Byzantine chant as the true music of the Church, and was applauded by many traditionalists in the audience. The response of Dr. Stefanidakis was very much to the point and seemed to sum up the main purpose of the conference. He said that if there is a gap in knowledge or understanding between the Byzantine traditionalists and the mainstream American church musicians, or more simply put, the chanters and the choirs, then it is because they have not been communicating. Only through better communication will the issues be better understood amongst the thousands who sing in church on Sunday.

This excellent conference was but a tiny beginning in solving the enormous difficulties facing the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese concerning ecclesiastical music. There are many issues important to the spiritual health of American Orthodox Christians that were only lightly touched upon in this conference. The architect of the conference, Foundation Director Angelo Lampousis, worked diligently behind-the-scenes to insure that the activities went smoothly and that the conference was a success. He was ably assisted by the Axion Estin Board, especially Cynthia Herzegovitch and Fr. Nicholas Anctil, as well as many Holy Trinity parishioners. In the final analysis, the conference succeeded because of the goodness of all of the people involved, from the hierarchy to the clergy to the speakers to the attendees to the workers. All exemplified a sense of common purpose and Christian love, which are very powerful forces when brought together. Future conferences on Byzantine music are being planned.

- This report was prepared for the Axion Estin Foundation (AEF) by conference attendee Stan Takis.