March 8, 2013
Boston, MA: "The Good Thief: Two Paths Diverged at the Wood" – A Joint Concert was held at Holy Cross Seminary

From Saturday the 16th to Monday the 18th of February, President’s Day weekend, several young Orthodox choirs gathered at Hellenic Greek College in Boston, MA for the third rendition of the concert program entitled "The Good Thief: Two Paths Diverged at the Wood." This story-telling concert has been performed twice before: once in Philadelphia, PA with a similar joint choir, and once in San Francisco, CA by a male choir.

This time, the program consisted of three seminaries and the Eastern American Diocesan Youth Choir. Joining the youth choir were the seminary choirs of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY, St. Tikhon’s OCA Seminary in South Canaan, PA, and the Holy Cross Greek Byzantine Choir from Brookline, MA. Also performing a piece was the newly-formed Women’s Byzantine Choir of the same school.

The choirs sang a series of Orthodox pieces from various Orthodox traditions including Slavic, Georgian, Greek, as well as new arrangements of ancient styles, all in order to tell the story of a young man faced with many difficult choices in his life, which eventually lead to his final decision at the Wood of Christ’s Cross, where he finds himself crucified, and is redeemed in his final moments.

The concert was well-attended with over 200 people present, despite an afternoon snowstorm, as students from the college joined parishioners from many local parishes of all jurisdictions. The choirs are grateful that Metropolitan Hilarion, who was visiting Holy Epiphany Church in Boston, was able to attend as well. Following the concert a bountiful feast provided the audience with a chance to meet and speak with the singers, where many expressed their gratitude for the hard work and beautiful performance.

Alexander Cooley
Photos by Nicholas Kronauer

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