From the Orthodox Christian Fellowship Board

Dear Friends of Orthodox Christian Choral Fellowship,

We want you to be the first to hear about our upcoming Virtual Choir project, bringing together Orthodox Christian musicians from all parts of the country –

and beyond!

We will be making a recording of “In the Shelter of Thy Wings” by John Balamos, a beautiful choral piece for the unaccompanied SATB choir. As with our previous projects, a series of online rehearsals will begin next month. These rehearsals are optional but are wonderful opportunities to meet other Orthodox Christian musicians, in addition to singing together and learning the music.

Registration is open, and we would love to include your smiling faces and voices in the video recording scheduled to be posted on social media.

Follow the link here to register and get all the details:

 www.occfellowship.org

By Athena Anastos, Assistant to the Chair,

GOMSF Church Federation Music Ministry

In June, members from the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians gathered in NYC at the Archdiocese Headquarters. The group consisted of presidents and representatives from each Metropolis Music Ministry along with our Spiritual Advisor the V. Rev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Gilbert. We were warmly welcomed by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros. Also present were the Chief Secretary His Grace Bishop Athenagoras and the Archdiocesan Chancellor the V. Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios Papazafiropoulos. After a lovely toast featuring delicious pomegranate liquor and tea cookies, a lively conversation took place. The Archbishop expressed that he is keenly aware of how Covid affected the choirs and wants to help in any way he can. Nick Chimitris, NF Chair, presented an extensive report showcasing the many products the NF has available to all church music ministries both chant and choir. Nick also shared with His Eminence the wonderful work each Federation ministry is doing especially in the area of scholarships. He also updated His Eminence regarding the current Forum committee projects being worked on at this time such as updating the Companion, the St. Romanos Music Festival, the Church Music Directors Certification program, and resurrecting the Visiting Scholar Program at HC/HC. Nick also spoke of the NF Annual Meeting in St. Louis that a composers and arranger symposium will be the highlight of the meeting. There will be 5 symposium sessions each discussing various church music topics. The Archbishop was most pleased with the ongoing work of the NF and hopes that we can meet more often to collaborate and share all present and future projects regarding church music in our Archdiocese.

By Ryan J. Kiel

Director of Music, Ss. Nicholas, Constantine & Helen Greek

Orthodox Church - Roseland, NJ

And District Supervisor of New Jersey (District 3) - Eastern Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians

I hope and pray that you have had a fabulous summer so far! The Metropolis of New Jersey's Holy Cross Celebration for 2023 AS WELL AS the

Eastern Federation’s annual Choir Conference will both be coinciding together!

Yes, that’s right! This year’s Holy Cross celebration AND

conference are happening together, graciously hosted by

St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Ocean, NJ.

This year’s conference date is September 21-24, 2023, the actual

Holy Cross Celebration Liturgy is on Sunday, September 24, at St. George in Ocean. Due to circumstances out of our control, the dates were recently changed from the original September 17. The Divine Liturgy on September 24 will be officiated by His Eminence, Metropolitan Apostolos of the Metropolis of New Jersey. This will be one of His Eminence’s first liturgies following the enthronement. What better way to show our support and to say “Άξιος!” by being present and lending our voices to this historical event! 

Start saving your Pennies: The conference registration fee will be $190 for early bird registration! Included in this fee are also meals, parea, workshops, etc. Conferences are an amazing opportunity to sing to God, connect with other musicians from throughout the Metropolis, build musicianship skills, and share delicious meals and experiences with friends.

I HIGHLY encourage you to consider attending this conference! 

Furthermore, if you are unable to make the actual conference portion BUT

you would like to sing at the Liturgy, please go to the website below for the practice schedule.



Link: New Jersey Annual Conference

by Nicholas Chimitris

Members of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians from throughout the Archdiocese gathered at the parish of St. Nicholas, St. Louis, MO from July 13 through July 16 to convene its 47th annual conference and first-ever Composers/Arrangers Symposium. The conference began auspiciously with a

prayer service and veneration of the holy relics of St. Romanos, the patron saint of the National Forum. This was followed by a warm and supportive video greeting by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros. The business session included discussions of current and upcoming projects including the St. Romanos Church Music Festival and the Music Education for Young People project, Choir Directors Certification Program, 501C3 progress, Anastasiou Liturgies English translation project, Liturgical Guidebook, and the recent audience with His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros and the National Forum leadership. Each Church Musicians Federation also presented reports describing their

activities and programs.

The Composers and Arrangers Symposium convened on Friday afternoon following a group excursion to the famous St. Louis Arch that morning. Composers, arrangers, clergy, music ministry directors, choir directors, choir members and chanters participated in presentations and discussions dealing with timely topics concerning church music today. We were especially blessed to have His Eminence Metropolitan Savas of Pittsburgh present for the entire symposium. His Eminence also was speaker and moderator for the session entitled “Building Relationships in Music Leadership. The keynote address was offered by distinguished composer Tikey Zes. The sessions that followed were: New Music Incorporating the Official English Translation, Writing Music for the Choirs of Today, Building Relationships in Music Leadership, Original Compositions, and Back to the Future exploring how new compositions and arrangements can be created yet following Byzantine formulas. Over 200 pages of compositions were submitted for presentation by our church music composers and arrangers. The Symposium’s final sessions were held on Saturday. Following dinner, we attended a performance

of “West Side Story” at the Muny outdoor theater. 

The National Forum events ended with the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy concelebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Savas of Pittsburgh and His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago. Archimandrite Father Chrysostomos Gilbert, Father Michael Arbanas, Father John Magoulias, and Archdeacon Vasilios Smith also concelebrated the liturgy. The choir consisted of over forty members representing every Metropolis and Church Musician Federation in the Archdiocese of America. The choir was directed by Nick Chimitris, National Forum National Chairman and Choir Director of

St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Hammond, IN.