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Members of the EADMC

Priest George Johnson

Father George Johnson converted to Orthodoxy with his family in 1986.  Having been a singer and choir master in Episcopal parishes for his prior adult life, immediately after his Baptism, he was put to work to help initiate the program of English services at St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, D.C. by directing the choir and preparing all the music.  A policy of weekly rehearsals was established.

Nearly simultaneously with Father George's conversion, the Synodal Liturgical Music Advisory Board commission of ROCOR (principally Peter Fekula and Nicolas Schidlovsky) organized the first Russian Orthodox Church Musicians choir conferences for the mutual help and inspiration of Russian Orthodox choir directors.  Father George participated in the first few of these and, with the knowledge gained there and from personal study, he imbibed the foundational elements of Russian Orthodox musical and liturgical practice.  At the time, English settings were not plentiful, especially according to ROCOR translation usage, so Father George set about arranging, setting or marking all the hymn texts as they were needed, initially by hand, eventually through the use of software.  During this time, he was advanced in the clerical life, becoming a priest in 1994.  The choir work then fell to his Matushka, Deborah.

In 1998, with encouragement by Peter and Nicolas, the ROCM conference was held at St. John's and was entirely in and about English.  Father George's Vespers volume was introduced at this conference.  This was the first volume of a projected series in which a significant part of Orthodox hymnody in English translation will be set to music.  The purpose of the series is to provide for parishes at all levels.  Most of the music, therefore, consists of simple harmonizations of melodies from the body of Russian liturgical chant.  The harmonic usage is based on long-used principles promulgated at the initial ROCM conferences.  Regarding text setting, the guiding principle is to set and perform the hymns in such a way as to preserve the natural articulation and rhythm of English, so that the message sung is the message heard.

Father George was the assistant Pastor at St. John's from 1994 through the first part of 2001.  In that year, he and a few others founded Holy Apostles Orthodox mission parish in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.  Even though the mission is small, the parish maintains a choir that rehearses regularly under the direction of Father George's son, Reader Christopher, carrying on the principles that Father George established and maintained.

Even with the Pastoral duties, Father George continues to arrange and compose music, with special attention to the needs of the mission, because he sees the clear and articulate proclamation of the message as a main means of teaching.  For him, the message is the message and the music is the means.

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