Lviv summer school for choir conductors (05/01/05)

A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

Lviv summer school for choir conductors

by Roman Hurko

LVIV - Without a doubt, the state of liturgical singing in the Ukrainian Church today needs to be improved and perfected. This applies equally to the Ukrainian Church in Ukraine, as well as the diaspora. This worrying state of affairs, and the need to improve it through the creation of a summer school for church choir conductors, was brought up during conferences at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) by representatives of the Church, as well as by music experts, among them representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora.

All agreed the question of creating a good musical and liturgical-theological education for church choir conductors, deacons and singers is critical.

With this goal in mind, a department of sacred choral conducting was created in 2001 at the Lysenko Academy in Lviv. Since then, an approved curriculum has been written, a group of lecturers has been organized, and a methodology has been developed. The department functions in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Catholic University, especially with its Liturgical Institute.

This gained experience, coupled with the urgent need, has given the impetus for developing the project of an International Summer School for church choir conductors and deacons, the organization of which has been taken on by the Institute of Liturgy at UCU. The first such summer school is planned to take place at the Univska Sviatouspenka Lavra near Lviv on June 10-July 5.

Included in the 20-day course are liturgical singing, vocal technique, conducting, singing in a church choir, as well as liturgical-theological studies such as liturgics, liturgical time, theology of church songs, and history and theory of liturgical singing. A seminar about the sacred music computer data base, "Irmos," is also planned.

For more detailed information about the Summer School, readers may e-mail [email protected].

The coordinator of the International Summer School in Ukraine is Natalia Syrotynsky. The coordinator of the school in North America is Roman Hurko, a composer and conductor from Canada, who may be reached at [email protected].

Organizers say that starting a summer school for church conductors will improve the general level of liturgical singing, and unite the circle of professionals who are working in this field, who in turn will teach others, thus strengthening the foundation for the further development and perfection of the 1,000-year-old practice of singing in the Ukrainian Church.

The cost of the course is $200 (U.S.); room and board are an additional $200.

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