Русская
Версия
July
9, 2009
Myrrhbearers. A unique choir in the Russian Diaspora.
The
Holy Myrrhbearers Women’s Choir, under the direction of Eugenia
Temidis, is a rare phenomenon in the Russian diaspora. Women’s
choirs usually form in convents; a lay women’s choir has never
existed in the Russian emigration.
The
founder and musical director of this choir is Eugenia Temidis. Since
childhood, she listened to the choir led by her grandfather, Georgii
Ivanovich Samoilovich, learning Church Slavonic, reading and singing
on the kliros in her parish in Nyack, NY, and participated in school
choruses. She sang in her university choir under the direction of
organist Lester Berenbroick.
For
over 10 years, she sang with the Russian Choral Society first under
Vladimir Roudenko, later Alexander Ledkovsky, Vladimir Morosan and
Nikolai Kachanov, which performed in New York’s finest venues:
Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the New York Philharmonic.
Eugenia now sings in the Synodal Cathedral Choir, directs the
Myrrhbearer’s Choir, teaches young singers (including her own five
children) and continues studying her craft in a conservatory.
—
Eugenia, what gave you the idea of forming a women’s choir?
— Twelve
years ago it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to gather
female singers to sing the divine services on the feast day of the
Holy Myrrhbearing Women at Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack. At
first we only sang selected prayers, and invited women singers from
other parishes. Seven years later we sang the entire service to the
Protectresses of the parish sisterhood, and began giving concerts
during parish celebrations: weddings, baptisms…
In 2001, we
had the honor of performing at the banquet honoring the newly-elected
First Hierarch of the Church Abroad, Metropolitan Laurus. At that time
we received a blessing to be a diocesan ensemble of the Diocese of
Eastern America and New York of ROCOR.
This year
we sang all-night vigil and Divine Liturgy at Our Lady of Kazan Church
in Newark, at which His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch
of ROCOR, officiated.
—
Who sings in your choir?
— The
choir was formed by women for women, not by professionals but by
amateur singers of liturgical music. Among the singers are university
professors, financiers, teachers, a doctor, four church choir
directors… Mainly they are from New York State, some live in New
Jersey, Philadelphia, PA, and Connecticut.
Generally
they are Russian Americans. There are English-language singers from
the Orthodox Church in America who are interested in singing
Church-Slavonic music. The youngest singer in my group is one of my
daughters.
The
roster of singers changes from time to time: young people go away to
college, others leave to tend to their children or aging parents, and
then return to sing with us again, and new singers join. The core of
the choir consists of 12 singers which have been dedicated singers
from its birth to this day.
—
What does your repertory consist of?
— First
of all, we don’t sing folk songs or lay music. Included in our work
are the ancient monastic compositions of Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra,
Pochaev Lavra, Holy Trinity-St Sergius Lavra, and we sing the works of
such famous composers as Chesnokov, Gardner, Trubachev, Ledkovsky and
Kedrov.
Our
choir’s rich repertory also includes little-known spiritual chants
and carols of the 17th and 18th centuries. A concert we gave at the
Synodal Cathedral in New York included the first rendering of unknown
spiritual songs of St Dimitry of Rostov. Twelve years ago, when we
first began, there were no existing repertories for women’s choirs,
and almost prepared almost all the arrangements myself. With the
resurrection of the art of spiritual music in Russia and the spread of
the internet, we can use arrangements from convents in Russia, the
Holy Land and other countries. Still, we want to establish personal
connections with convents throughout the world.
—
Have you tried to sing for American audiences, too?
— Yes, we
give concerts both in Orthodox churches and for Russian and American
lay audiences. We performed in the renowned West Point Military
Academy, New Jersey Cultural Center, at benefit concerts in various
cities, and always try to accommodate those who are interested in
liturgical choral music no matter what nationality they are.
For
non-Orthodox or non-churchgoing audiences, these are not simply
concerts but a form of missionary work. We prepare commentaries for
our programs, and include translations of texts into English,
explaining the various prayers and liturgical actions to which they
relate, and give biographies of composers. So listeners not only gain
pleasure from the singing itself but they also learn the basics of
Orthodoxy.
—
Does it matter to you what kind of church you sing in?
— Of
course, good acoustics are very important. It makes it easier to sing,
and the voices sound better. I remember how graciously the Serbs
greeted us at St Savva Cathedral. At one time the church was
Protestant, and it was built according to different canons, and the
floor was cold, so we stood on rugs, but the acoustics in the church
are stunning.
In West
Point, too, we sang in a Protestant chapel with phenomenal acoustics.
But we are accustomed to singing in small churches. The main thing is
for people to enjoy listening to our music.
—
Are there places you would still like to sing in?
— We
would like to sing in St John of Shanghai’s cathedral in San
Francisco, the Montreal cathedral, St Nicholas Cathedral in Manhattan,
the main church of Moscow in New York, in the Holy Land and in one of
the convents of Russia, though I don’t yet know which. I don’t
want to guess…
The singing
of the Myrrhbearers Choir can be heard on the Orthodox internet radio
station www.ancientfaithradio.com
Tatiana
Veselkina
New York
Official
website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws
