Third Boston Byzantine Music Festival

Date: Nov 13, 2015 - Nov 14, 2015

The third Boston Byzantine Music Festival highlights the influence of Byzantine music on modern and contemporary music in the East and West.

The third Boston Byzantine Music Festival highlights the influence of Byzantine music on modern and contemporary music in the East and West.

Free lectures and a workshop related to the concerts will be presented on November 13 and 14.

Tickets: $20 per concert • Students: $7 per concert with valid ID
Limited box office sales on the day of performances: $30 per concert (check or credit card only).
Prefer mail order? Use our mail order form. Mail order ticket requests must be received by November 1, 2015.
Lectures and workshops are free, but seating is limited. Advance registration is recommended.

For concerts at the First Church in Cambridge, there is limited free parking at University Place Garage, 124 Mt. Auburn Street. Parking tickets must be validated at the concert.
For lectures and workshop at Hellenic College Holy Cross, free parking is available on campus.

The Boston Byzantine Music Festival is sponsored by the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with the New York Life Center for the Study of Hellenism in Pontus and Asia Minor.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, November 13, 2015, 2:00 p.m.
Venue: Archbishop Iakovos Library Reading Room, Hellenic College Holy Cross

The Byzantine Octopus, or the Ramifications of Musical Traditions
FR. IVAN MOODY (CESEM - Universiade Nova, Lisbon)

Extending throughout musical history like the tentacles of an octopus, Byzantine chant in its various forms and its descendants have provided starting points for composers of polyphonic music. Fr. Moody reflects on the surprisingly persistent influence of Byzantine and other Orthodox chant traditions in the work of a number of contemporary composers, including Michael Adamis, Arvo Pärt, Alexander Raskatov, John Tavener, and Fr. Moody himself.

Friday, November 13, 2015, 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.)
Venue: First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA

The Angel Cried: A Concert of Sacred Music Inspired by Eastern Orthodoxy
BOSTON CHORAL ENSEMBLE (Andrew Shenton, Director)
Holy Cross St. Romanos the Melodist Byzantine Choir (Grammenos Karanos, Director)

Holy Cross St. Romanos the Melodist Byzantine Choir joins the Boston Choral Ensemble in a concert of works inspired by the rich chant tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Post-Byzantine ecclesiastical compositions by Petros the Peloponnesian will be performed alongside contemporary works by John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, and Ivan Moody.

Saturday, November 14, 2015, 10:00 a.m.
Venue: Archbishop Iakovos Library Reading Room, Hellenic College Holy Cross

Myth, Mimesis, and Mimicry: Rebetic and Byzantine Echoes in Traditional Greek Music
PANAYOTIS LEAGUE (Harvard University and Hellenic College)

Panayotis League examines the role Greek Orthodox liturgical music and the syncretic urban genre rebetika play in the popular music of insular Greece. Looking at examples from western Crete, Mytilene, and Kalymnos, he explores questions of style, technique, and repertoire.

Saturday, November 14, 2015, 11:15 a.m.
Venue: Archbishop Iakovos Library Reading Room, Hellenic College Holy Cross

Medieval Greek Folk Songs Alive and Well
PANAYOTIS LEAGUE (Harvard University and Hellenic College)

Panayotis League teaches participants to sing and play paraloges—narrative songs of medieval origin—that are still popular on the islands of Kalymnos and Crete. All are welcome, regardless of experience or ability.

Saturday, November 14, 2014, 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.)
Venue: First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA

From Constantinople through Smyrna to Piraeus: A Night of Byzantine Chant and Rebetika Songs
REBETOPAREA (Kosmas Vrouvlianis, Director)
special appearance by GREGORY MANINAKIS
Holy Cross St. Romanos the Melodist Byzantine Choir (Grammenos Karanos, Director)

Rebetiko—a type of song that expresses the musical folklore of Greek urban populations on the margins of society—originated in the late nineteenth century in the port cities of the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly Smyrna, Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Piraeus, Ermoupolis, and Alexandria. Rebetoparea and acclaimed singer Gregory Maninakis perform selections from all periods of the genre’s history, including songs by Markos Vamvakaris, Vasilis Tsitsanis, and Yiannis Papaioannou. Holy Cross St. Romanos the Melodist Byzantine Choir will showcase the pre-history of rebetiko, which is intimately connected to the ecclesiastical music of medieval and post-medieval Constantinople.