OCA Music Department Chairman Participates in Liturgical Music Symposium

—Mr. David Drillock, chairman of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Liturgical Music and Translations, was among 29 noted Orthodox liturgical musicians who participated at an unprecedented symposium at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary here December 10-12, 2004.

The purpose of the symposium was to bring together liturgical musicians from various jurisdictions to discuss their work and to offer participants an opportunity to hear scholarly presentations on the Octoechos. Much time was dedicated to discussing the historical implications of these crucial liturgical works—both textual and musical—as they affect the Church’s contemporary understanding and use.

“Up until now, there has been limited opportunity for Orthodox musicians and academics from different jurisdictions and academic institutions to gather together in one place,” said Ms. Julia Wickes, SVS spokesperson. “Due to limited opportunities for collaboration, some work has been duplicated and re-duplicated. Therefore this symposium was both an unprecedented and valuable gathering.”

In addition to Mr. Drillock, who is also the seminary’s professor emeritus of liturgical music, several other presentations were offered. Dr. Peter Jeffrey, the Scheide Professor of Music History at Princeton University, gave the keynote address, “The Eight Modes Across Cultures: Schemata, Models and Paradigms,” in which he discussed the shared eight-mode liturgical structure in both east and west and examined what happens when music and liturgy move from culture to culture. Other talks and panel discussions were offered by Mr. Symeon Froyshov, senior research fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway; Archimandrite Ephrem [Lash], liturgical language scholar and lecturer from Manchester, UK; Mr. Isaac Lambertsen, staff member at the chancery of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia; and Mr. Mark Bailey, lecturer in liturgical music at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary and consultant for the OCA Department of Liturgical Music.

The symposium was funded by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.