Lycourgos Angelopoulos and Stelios Kontakiotis in America

greek487

Tasos N.
On Sunday, January 22, 2006, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, providing an experience rare in America: a complete hierarchical Diving Liturgy with authentic antiphonal Byzantine chanting.

Selected video parts of the Sunday Orthros and Divine Liturgy (January 22, 2006, Holy Trinity Church, New Rochelle, New York). Two choirs, made up by several conference participants, chanted antiphonically (i.e. alternate chanting between two choirs or psaltes located on either side of the altar). Lycourgos Angelopoulos led the right choir, and Stelios Kontakiotis, formerly of St. Sophia Cathedral in Washington, D. C., led the left choir. The left choir featured English language transcriptions by Hieromonk Fr. Seraphim Dedes of St. Gregory Palamas Monastery in Mansfield, Ohio.

(From AxionEstin.org)

http://www.axionestin.org/conference-video-audio.html#video
 

Nikolaos Giannoukakis

Παλαιό Μέλος
"an experience rare in America: a complete hierarchical Diving Liturgy with authentic antiphonal Byzantine chanting."

Not as rare as you might think.

The Metropolis of New Jersey has wonderful choirs that assist traditionally and antiphonally in the celebration of Panegyric Vespers and Orthros-Liturgies and so do we in our own Metropolis. I understand that the practice is no different in Chicago in the Metropolis of Chicago from time to time.

NG
 
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greek487

Tasos N.
"an experience rare in America: a complete hierarchical Diving Liturgy with authentic antiphonal Byzantine chanting."

Not as rare as you might think.

The Metropolis of New Jersey has wonderful choirs that assist traditionally and antiphonally in the celebration of Panegyric Vespers and Orthros-Liturgies and so do we in our own Metropolis. I understand that the practice is no different in Chicago in the Metropolis of Chicago from time to time.

NG

Nick,

The above commentary is provided by The Axion Estin Foundation (I believe Stan Takis may have authored it), but I would have to agree with it. I wish it weren't the case, but 'complete Divine Liturgies with authentic antiphonal Byzantine chanting' is extremely rare in America. Even in many of the most traditional of parishes, a rarity in itself, the chanters from the left side typically join the right side after the Trisagion Hymn. Moreover, even when there is a left analogion physically present (yet another rarity), I've almost never seen a parish actually put a lambadario (left side lead-chanter) on payroll. Parishes typically consider a single chanter for salaried payroll.

Assuming the 3-5 parishes you site complete the Divine Liturgy antiphonally, let alone a hierarchical liturgy, this simply reinforces the fact of how rare this phenomenon is. There are more than 500 parishes in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. How many of those include regular antiphonal byzantine chanting? In the future, of course, the situation may improve.

Of additional interest is Archbishop Demetrios' commentary on this historic liturgy which can be found at http://www.axionestin.org/conference-video-audio-2006.html

Taso

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