ISOCM Members Participate in World Premiere of Liturgical Composition

New York, NY – Members of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM) recently participated here in the world premiere of the original musical settings composed for the Divine Liturgy by fellow ISOCM member, Roman Hurko.

The liturgy was celebrated on 12 and 13 November 2011 with Mr. Hurko directing a mixed voice choir of nearly 80 voices.

The choir included members of the Choir of the Church of St. Francis Xavier, New York, NY, Choral Chameleon, the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter the Apostle, Chicago, IL, and a well as various guest solo artists, including members of the ISOCM: Danial Galadza, Alla Generalow, Jaakko Olkinuora, Sasha Zamler-Carhart, and ISOCM board member David Lucs.

A composite video clip of the liturgy on Saturday, November 12 is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suP_IPMzyjo

“The contribution of ISOCM members to the two liturgy services was invaluable,” Roman Hurko said, adding, “In particular, Jaakko Olkinuora set the tone for the service with a Byzantine chant during the censing of the church, while Daniel Galadza prepared and conducted the propers for the services.”

The weekend included celebration of the liturgy on two consecutive days featuring the new compositions by Mr. Hurko. On Saturday, November 12, 2011 the liturgy was celebrated at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church by the Rev. Edward Danylo Evanko and Rev. George Drance, SJ.

On Sunday, November 13, 2011 the liturgy was celebrated at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The setting of the liturgy is Mr. Hurko’s third complete setting of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom reflecting the musical tradition and heritage of his Ukrainian Catholic upbringing in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Hurko noted that another goal of this setting was “to accommodate those anglophone Eastern Christians who are no longer familiar with their ancestral languages by allowing them to take part in the services using their native English language.”

In conjunction with the premiere, the entire liturgy was made available for purchase on compact disc with a very attractive booklet. The CD can be purchased either on disc on Mr. Hurko’s website (http://www.romanhurko.com/sacredchoralmusic.cfm) or as individual mp3 files on itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/liturgy-no.-3-english-the/id477551145)