Sydney School of Byzantine Chant Concert 2024
On Tuesday, 19 November 2024, the Sydney School of Byzantine Chant held its annual concert, ‘Sacred Hymnody Through the Ages’, in the presence of His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, who was representing His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
The concert was a chronological history of the sacred art of Byzantine music, with students chanting a selection of hymns composed by renowned hymnographers spanning from the 4th to the 20th century.
The program included reflections on the lives and contributions of some of the most celebrated figures in Byzantine hymnography, such as St. John of Damascus, St. Theodore the Stoudite, and St. Kassiani. The concert presented a vivid journey through the centuries of the sacred tradition of Byzantine Chant.
After congratulating the students and conferring certificates to the graduates, His Grace addressed those gathered and emphasised that the thread running throughout the entire history presented was the holiness and prayerfulness of each saintly composer.
The Sydney School of Byzantine Chant was founded in 1995 by the late Vasili Stavropoulos and operates under the Greek Orthodox Christian Society of New South Wales, with Mr. Kosmas Kokkinos as director.
The School offers five-year theoretical and practical courses in Byzantine Music. It also offers practical music lessons to Sunday School children, aged 8 to 12.
Those interested in participating in the School’s courses next year can fill out the relevant form: https://lychnos.org/expression-of-interest/ . Classes will resume in February 2025.
