St Vladimir’s Seminary students, faculty, and guests performed a concert titled “Hymns for the Theotokos & the Lenten Season” on Sunday, March 26 at 5 p.m. EDT in the Three Hierarchs chapel on campus. Three ensembles—a male choir, a women’s choir, and a mixed choir—sang selections of traditional and contemporary hymns from Slavic, Georgian, Middle Eastern, Greek, Malankaran, and modern American composers.
The male and mixed choirs were directed by Dr Harrison Russin, Prokofiev Assistant Professor of Liturgical Music at St Vladimir’s Seminary. First-year seminarian Naomi DeHaan (M.A.’24) directed the women’s choir; several of the pieces sung were arranged for the ensemble by Jaime Rall, a Master of Arts student with a concentration in the sacred arts.
The concert was attended in person by an audience of over one hundred; over 550 people from all over the world registered to attend the event online.
All are welcome to enjoy the recording of the 2023 Lenten Concert on the St Vladimir’s Seminary YouTube Channel. The names of the pieces and their composers are also listed in the video description.
His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) served at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) on March 24 and March 25.
On Friday, March 24, His Beatitude presided over the morning Presanctified Liturgy and the festal vigil for the Feast of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos in the evening. During the day, he ate lunch with students in the refectory and met with seminary faculty and staff for pastoral conversations.
A full Hierarchical Liturgy was celebrated for the Feast of the Annunciation, at which time His Beatitude tonsured Anthony (Antwian) Davis, SVS Press Bookstore Manager and SVOTS Alumnus (M.Div. ‘19), as a Reader. Concelebrating with His Beatitude were Archpriest Chad Hatfield and other seminary clergy.
His Beatitude delivered an uplifting homily for the feast, highlighting the true meaning of the role of the Most Holy Theotokos in the lives of all people, and urging his flock to “redouble our filial devotion to our Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, from whose womb our Life was born.” The sermon can be read in full at OCA.org, and heard on the SVOTS Give Me a Word podcast, hosted on ancientfaith.org.
You are invited to an evening of music and worship to contemplate the season of Great Lent and to honor the Most Holy Theotokos and Virgin Mary.
This concert will take place on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST) in the Three Hierarchs Chapel on the campus of St Vladimir’s Seminary. The performance will feature traditional and contemporary hymns sung by the St Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale under the direction of Dr Harrison Russin. The concert is free.
Attend the concert in person or online. We will send you a link to watch the concert after you register.
Please join us as we continue through this Lenten season—preparing our hearts and minds to exalt the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology, Dn Vitaly Permiakov, spoke at the 2023 Lenten Retreat at Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco on the weekend of March 18-19. Over 75 parishioners and guests attended the retreat, contemplating the topic "Standing in the temple of thy glory: liturgical theology in the hymns and prayers of Lent and Holy Week."
Holy Trinity Cathedral Dean, the Very Rev. Kirill Sokolov (M.Div.'07) remarked, "Fr Deacon Vitaly spoke powerfully about the prayers of the Liturgy of St Basil the Great and the hymns of Holy Week. I was impressed that a number of parishioners approached me the next day, after liturgy, about how much the Anaphora of St Basil resonated more powerfully after his vivid explanations."
In addition to the retreat, Dn Vitaly addressed 18 clergy and monastics of the Pacific Central Deanery the preceding day after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. Dn Vitaly spoke about the rite of consecration of churches and other significant liturgical themes. On Sunday, he concelebrated with His Eminence, the Most Reverend Benjamin, Archbishop of San Francisco and the West, and delivered the liturgical homily before returning to St Vladimir’s Seminary.
Do you feel called to serve the Church, either in ordained ministry, academia, or another vocation? Explore that calling at the St Vladimir’s Seminary Open House, held on-site on March 11-12, 2023!
Prospective seminarians are invited to take a closer look at the spiritual, academic, and residential life at St Vladimir’s Seminary. Pray in the chapel, speak with seminarians and seminary professors, and enjoy our beautiful campus.
Prospective students will be responsible for their transportation to and from the seminary and lodging expenses. Lenten meals will be provided on campus.
For two days, seminarians, faculty, and staff at St Vladimir’s Seminary met at Three Hierarchs Chapel to pray together and listen to a series of talks for meditation.
This year, Dr Peter Bouteneff presented a four-part series titled “The Social Self and the Inner Life: Reflections on Communion, Introversion, Extraversion, and Compassion.”
St Vladimir’s Seminary offers you the opportunity to watch all four meditations. Hear how to cultivate compassion and prayer in a community and how to balance your inner life and communion with others.
We pray each talk will help strengthen your relationship with God, with each other, and with yourself.
The concert program, entitled The Byzantine Choral Inheritance, guided the listener through the historical traditions of Byzantine chant to contemporary choral works inspired by traditional motifs. The concert opened with works in Greek from medieval Constantinople, followed by liturgical works by twentieth-century Greek American composers such as Tikey Zes, Theodore Bogdanos, and Frank Desby. The second half featured Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation, a setting of Psalm 103, in which six composers: Tikey Zes, +Richard Toensing, GRAMMY-nominee Kurt Sander, Alexander Khalil, John Michael Boyer, and Matthew Arndt, each set a portion of the Psalm, creating a seamless tapestry.
Dr Alexander Lingas, founder and Musical Director of Cappella Romana and Artist in Residence at The Institute of Sacred Arts for the Spring 2023 semester, directed a portion of the concert, with John Michael Boyer directing selected pieces. SVOTS seminarian Fr Nicholas Fine (M.Div. ‘23) joined the choir; he also performed as a soloist and consort singer.
Describing The Byzantine Choral Inheritance, Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts, Dr Peter Bouteneff applauded the work of Cappella Romana, saying, “This event brought a world-class choral ensemble to perform a creative repertoire spanning the old and the new. This was not only a concert of stunning beauty, but it also inspired us to think on themes of tradition and creativity that are central to our work at the Institute of Sacred Arts.”
Following the concert, a reception was held for sponsors of the event, Cappella Romana choir members, and SVOTS faculty, students, and staff.
On behalf of the Institute of Sacred Arts, Dr Peter Bouteneff expressed his gratitude for the generosity of The Henry Luce Foundation and the following sponsors of this concert:
Angelic Sponsors
Archpriest Chad and Matushka Thekla Hatfield
The Bishop Basil Endowment for Byzantine Music at SVOTS
Joan Strashinsky Shell
Melodic Sponsor
The Hoff Family
Dr Bouteneff also imparted his thanks to John Paterakis, Costa Tsourakis, and Great Music Under a Byzantine Dome for contributing their facilities and for their collaboration in hosting Cappella Romana and The Byzantine Inheritance.
The Institute of Sacred Arts at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) and Great Music Under a Byzantine Dome will host a concert performance by the world-renowned ensemble, Cappella Romana, on Friday, February 17, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York (337 E 74th St, New York, NY 10021).
The concert program, entitled The Byzantine Choral Inheritance, guides the listener through the historic traditions of Byzantine music to new works that draw inspiration from them. The concert will begin with works in Greek from medieval Constantinople, followed by liturgical works by twentieth-century Greek American composers such as Tikey Zes, Theodore Bogdanos, and Frank Desby. The second half will feature Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation, a setting of Psalm 103, in which six composers: Tikey Zes, +Richard Toensing, GRAMMY-nominee Kurt Sander, Alexander Khalil, John Michael Boyer, and Matthew Arndt, each set a portion of the Psalm, creating a seamless tapestry.
Describing The Byzantine Choral Inheritance, Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts, Dr Peter Bouteneff, expressed his appreciation for the work of Cappella Romana, saying, “This event brings a world-class choral ensemble to perform a creative repertoire spanning the old and the new. This will not only be a concert of stunning beauty, it will help make us think on themes of tradition and creativity that are so central to our work at the Institute of Sacred Arts.”
Following the concert, there will be a private reception for sponsors and Cappella Romana choir members. To learn more about our sponsorship opportunities, please visit our sponsorship page via the link below.
Cappella Romana is a professional vocal ensemble that performs early and contemporary sacred classical music in the Christian traditions of East and West. The ensemble is known especially for its presentations and recordings of medieval Byzantine chant (the Eastern sibling of Gregorian chant), Greek and Russian Orthodox choral works, and other sacred music that expresses the historic traditions of a unified Christian inheritance.
Cappella Romana brings to life music that meets a deep human need, not only to belong and to have a shared creative experience, but to feel the full range of ethical, emotional, and spiritual effect as expressed through music. We strive to give an experience that allows you, our audience, to feel a sheer joy that cannot be contained by mere words, but through the ineffable sounds of the human voice in song.
The Synaxis of the Three Great Hierarchs, Sts Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom on Monday, January 30, 2023 was celebrated at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) with a hierarchical Divine Liturgy, officiated by His Eminence, the Most Reverend Daniel, Archbishop of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest. The patronal feast of the seminary Three Hierarchs Chapel was augmented by the ordination of seminarian Dr Mark Therrien (Th.M. ‘23) to the Holy Diaconate.
The 40th Annual Fr Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture was held in the evening of the feast day, with the Rev. Dr Hans Boersma, Professor of Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House, speaking on the topic “God as Embodied: Christology and Participation in Maximus the Confessor.” SVOTS President, the Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield, welcomed Dr Boersma and expressed appreciation for “yet another thread in a long line of historical exchanges and cooperation that runs through the history of both St Vladimir's Seminary and Nashotah House.”
Honored guests in attendance at the lecture included His Eminence Archbishop Daniel and His Eminence Metropolitan Antonios, Patriarchal Vicar of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The talk was also attended by the student body, many faculty, staff, and community members, and almost 500 registrants signed up for the online live stream of the event. For those unable to attend the lecture live, the recording has been uploaded to the SVOTS Youtube channel.
Following Dr Boersma’s presentation, the 2022-2023 Mid-Year Convocation took place. Mr William Rusk was awarded the Master of Arts (M.A.) diploma, having completed his M.A. thesis entitled Clarity of Vision: A Close Examination of the 16th Century Icon, the Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel on the Banks of the Chebar River. The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree was awarded to the Rev. Elias Dorham, who presented his remarks on his experience as a D.Min. student at St Vladimir’s Seminary and the research he conducted for his final project, The Good Wine: A Parish-Based Brief Marriage Intervention.
The event was concluded with closing remarks given by His Eminence, Archbishop Daniel, and a festive reception for all in attendance.
Apply to become a seminarian at St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary! We are now accepting applications for the following degree programs for Academic Year 2023-2024: Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Arts (M.A.), and Master of Theology (Th.M.). The M.A. program encapsulates four available concentrations: General Theological Studies, Sacred Arts, Theological Scholarship and Orthodox Christian Leadership (a hybrid program for those who desire distance learning and are interested in the intersection of Orthodox theology and leadership).
Prospective students are able to complete the entire application process online, including interviews. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2023.
The degree programs at St Vladimir's Seminary prepare dedicated Orthodox Christians for both ordained and lay ministry and a variety of vocations. The Orthodox Church has a great need not only for priests but academics and teachers, church musicians, missionaries, writers, chaplains, and other ministries. Visit the Degree Programs section of the seminary website to explore the different offerings at St. Vladimir's Seminary.
