St. Tikhon’s Chamber Choir to perform NYC benefit concert of new sacred music
The Chamber Choir of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, a professional vocal ensemble under the auspices of America’s oldest Orthodox monastery, will give a concert at the Roman Catholic Church of Saint John Nepomucene, 411 East 66 Street, New York, NY at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 12, 2015.
The concert will celebrate the release of the choir’s forthcoming debut album, “Till Morn Eternal Breaks: Sacred Choral Music of Benedict Sheehan.” Proceeds from the event will benefit Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.
The performance will consist of original compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions by composer and conductor Benedict Sheehan, resident music director at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery.
Several works on the program will be making their world premiere performances that evening, including Sheehan’s “Triduum Paschalae,” a three-movement work for chorus and soloists based on medieval English poetry and poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Among those giving solo performances on the evening will be Portland-based baritone John Michael Boyer, known for his work with Cappella Romana, and soprano Laura Soto-Bayomi of the Chatauqua Opera Festival and the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Additional information is available here.
His Eminence, Archbishop Michael of New York and New Jersey and Rector of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, observed that the upcoming concert is an example of the ongoing close cooperation between Saint Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery, which have existed in a symbiotic relationship for the past 77 years.
“From the founding of the Monastery in 1905, and then together with the seminary since its founding in 1938, Saint Tikhon’s has worked to put the Liturgy at the center of people’s lives. One essential way we can do this is by dedicating ourselves to beautiful church singing, which is par excellence a sacramental offering of our time, our treasures, and our talents to God.”
Archbishop Michael also noted that this concert—the first joint monastery and seminary effort of its kind—represents “a deepening commitment on the part of both institutions to fostering excellence in the liturgical arts.”
Archimandrite Sergius, Abbot of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, said that the concert and the CD it celebrates represent an important milestone in the development of Orthodox musical culture in America.
“Not only is this the first time that an established Orthodox institution such as Saint Tikhon’s Monastery has committed itself to cultivating sacred music-making at a professional level,” he said, “but it is also the first time that an entire album has been dedicated to the work of a single living Orthodox composer born and bred on American soil.”
Archpriest Dr. Steven Voytovich, Dean of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, shared his excitement about this joint effort in developing liturgical music.
“Benedict Sheehan, a member of Saint Tikhon’s Class of 2011, continues to manifest an active commitment to both the seminary and monastery by equipping our seminarians in the area of liturgical music as a faculty member, leading the Seminarian Mission Choir that travels to parishes across the country, and training and directing the monastery choir in singing the responses in the daily cycle of services,” Father Steven said. “We celebrate his dedication to elevating and developing Orthodox liturgical music in North America.”