The First Church Music Seminar of the Canadian Diocese, Held in Calgary, Comes to a Close

From 27 February until 2 March, the Canadian city of Calgary was host to the first Church Music Seminar of the Canadian Diocese. Seven choir directors and 23 singers from various cities in Canada and the US participated. Among the cities represented by the participants were Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Chicago and San Francisco. The Seminar was organized by the Church Music Committee of the Canadian Diocese, led by G.A. Skok, Prof. Brierly and N.E. Androsoff.

The Seminar began with a service of supplication, conducted by the Rector of the All-Saints Church in Calgary, the dean of the Alberta parishes, Protopriest George Primak. Fr. George addressed the participants of the Seminar, saying that singing should not only be correctly executed, but that the hearts of the singers must necessarily issue real prayer. Protopriest Peter Perekrestov of San Francisco continued this theme with a lecture on the spiritual preparation and state of mind of the clergy and singers during divine services.

In his keynote address, the main organizer of the Seminar, G.A. Skok, noted that the first seminar of the Canadian Diocese is dedicated to the memory of Archimandrite Theodore (Golitzin) of blessed memory. Fr. Theodore over the course of many years of service at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Montreal devoted a great deal of effort towards the education of several generations of church choir directors and singers. He gave special attention to young people, forever urging them forward with encouragement and support.

The lectures and workshops of Peter Jermihov (Chicago) and George Skok (Toronto) concentrated on the preparation of singers, small choir groups, eight-tone chant and the preparation of notes. Professor D. Brierly of Ottawa University spoke on the topic of Russian church singing in the diaspora. Professor Brierly is one of the leading researchers in this field. Protopriest Peter Perekrestov, together with Protodeacon Christopher Birchall of Vancouver, led a roundtable on the theme of the liturgical ustav, and the choir director of All-Saints Church in Calgary, Olga Primak, worked with the participants on vocal technique. (Photo: Prof. Brierly’s lecture.)

On Friday evening, the choir director of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Montreal, Nicholas Androsoff, shared his thoughts on the difficulties encountered by the choir director and parishioners after the fire in their church. Thanks to the small number of participants, everyone had an opportunity to get acquainted with one another on Friday evening and share their joys, troubles and hopes within parish life, especially concerning services and singing.

On Saturday, 1 March and Sunday, 2 March, the attendees of the Seminar participated in services at All-Saints Church. Peter Jermihov led the choir during vigil, while liturgy was led by George Skok. For the first time ever, the Russian church in Calgary resounded with rare compositions, including znamenny chant and unison singing. Especially impressive was the singing during vigil of “Upon the Rivers of Babylon,” in the znamenny chant with two canonarchs: George Skok and Sergei Furmanov. Liturgy was celebrated by the Rector of the parish, Fr. George Primak along with Fr. Peter Perekrestov and Fr. Michael Ilyin, along with Protodeacon Christopher Birchall.

After services, a group photograph was taken, after which the parish Sisterhood, at the threshold of Great Lent, offered a feast of blini. Greetings were read during the meal. Kind Archimandrite Theodore was remembered, the joy of community was shared and the importance of building church life on the proper foundations were discussed. Some of the locals were moved to tears that the church drew so many young people who sang so beautifully—the parish of the Calgary church is somewhat isolated by location, and was not chosen as the site for the Seminar for naught. (Photo: the children of the Church of All Saints in Calgary.)

In conclusion, the hope was expressed that the next meeting of church singers of the Canadian Diocese be held in Vancouver.