From October 2 to 6, 2024, at the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral (ROCOR) in Los Angeles, the 31st annual Church Musicians’ Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church was held very successfully and with great excitement. Musicians’ Conferences in America, held since 1987, were established to provide church choir members with the opportunity to meet and communicate with each other, sharing experiences and strengthening their knowledge of both the practical and theoretical aspects of liturgical singing and choir work.
Guests numbering over 65 singers and choir directors from different regions of the United States and Canada were accommodated at the Sheraton Hotel near the LAX airport, where the first three days of meetings were held. The convention was opened with a prayer service and a greeting from Archpriest Andre Papkov, chairman of the Church Music Commission at the Synod of Bishops and founder/director of the Synodal School of Liturgical Music of the Russian Church Abroad. This year’s honorary guests and speakers were:
Protodeacon Alexander Kedroff, choirmaster from the Paris Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and a direct descendant of the famous choir directors and composers of the Russian diaspora, N. Kedrov the father and N. Kedrov the son – delivered a presentation about “Stichera and Obikhod.”
Protodeacon Ioann Drobot (also of the Paris Cathedral), custodian and publisher of the archives and history of Parisian choral traditions, shared a presentation entitled “Concerning the ‘Paris School’ of Liturgical Singing.”
Vladimir Petrovich Morosan, a prominent church musicologist of the Russian diaspora, founder and director of the publishing house Musica Russica, read the report on “A. Arkhangelsky and A. Nikolsky: Practical Pathways they Offer Towards the Future of Orthodox Liturgical Chant.”
Vladimir Vadimovich Krassovsky, distinguished choir director of the San Francisco Cathedral of Joy of All Sorrowing and member of the Church Musical Commission, held a conversation on the topic “Spiritual Aspects of a Conductor’s Work.”
Church composer, Dr. Kurt (Lawrence) Sander, whose musical work “The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom” was nominated in 2019 for the famous American Grammy Award in the category of sacred music, talked about “American Orthodoxy as a Cultural Brand and Other Liturgical Music Misconceptions.”
Laryssa Dookhovskoy, a vocal coach, conducted several lessons with the singers from the “Approaching the Aesthetic” series about the importance and practical aspects of choral sound.
During the first three intensive days, participants attended very interesting lectures and presentations on various topics related to church singing, its history, traditions, practical difficulties, future prospects and technical issues. A significant part of the time was spent rehearsing and learning a considerable number of new pieces for the upcoming church services. The choir director of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Los Angeles, Irina Orloff, prepared a booklet of reflections on the church singing by the ever-memorable Alexei Mikhailovich Sokolov, who directed the cathedral choir for 58 years, and delivered a heartfelt word in memory of the 5th anniversary of his repose. Joint meals provided an opportunity for guests from different dioceses to meet, socialize informally and share choir experiences, while the scheduled free evening on Friday provided an opportunity for visitors to the city to enjoy some of the local attractions.
The culmination of the conference was the services of the Saturday All-Night Vigil and Sunday Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in the Transfiguration Cathedral, during which the united choir sang under the leadership of several alternately conducting choir directors: Protodeacon Alexander Kedroff, Vadim Gan (choir director of the Synodal Choir in New York), Vladimir Krassovsky, Dr. Kurt Sander, Laryssa Dookhovskoy and Gregory Kotar.
The services were officiated by Bishop James of Sonora, Vicar of the Western American Diocese, who was present at the convention from the first day and brought valuable comments to the discussions. The festive banquet in the parish hall with the participation of the local clergy was summed up with a word of gratitude from the rector of the cathedral, Protopresbyter Alexander Lebedeff.
The participants of the conference, the author of these lines among them, in addition to a wonderful time spent, took away from these four days a significant amount of theoretical knowledge and practical benefits, studied new and complex scores belonging to composers of different singing schools and movements, had the honor of making acquaintances with leading authorities in the Russian Orthodox singing field, communicating in the spirit of brotherly love with their colleagues and associates from different parts of the world and receiving inspiration for further work in the realm of kliros work.
Among the sponsors of the Congress: the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR, the Western American Diocese of the ROCOR, the Fund for Assistance, the Parish Council and parishioners of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration. Special thanks on behalf of the participants of the congress goes to the family of Subdeacon Sergey and choir director Irina Orloff (all members of which are choristers), for their enormous and united organizational work and scrupulous planning of the smallest details.
The next Church Musicians’ Conference is scheduled for the fall of 2025 in Jackson, New Jersey. Those interested in serving the Holy Church with their singing during divine services are advised to contact the local choirmasters. To prepare future professional church singers and choir directors, since 1992 there has been a Synodal School of Liturgical Music (http://synodalschool.com) on the East Coast, which invites everyone to its two-week intensive classes every summer.
— Vitaly Efimenkov (reader, choir director)
