Cappella Romana on Tour in Romania at the Iași Byzantine Music Festival

The Iași Byzantine Music Festival in Romania will present Cappella Romana, the world’s leading proponent of scholarship and performance of Medieval Byzantine Chant, in a concert on September 28, 2017, at 7:00 p.m., in the “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre. More information .

Music director Dr. Alexander Lingas will lead a mixed ensemble of men and women in medieval Byzantine chant from Hagia Sophia, music heard for the first time by modern audiences only last autumn, during the ensemble’s residency at Stanford University.

The program will feature medieval Byzantine chant from the nearly forgotten Cathedral Rite of Hagia Sophia, sung from performing editions prepared by Dr. Lingas and the Byzantine musicologists Drs. Ioannis Arvanitis and Spyridon Antonopoulos.

According to the festival website, for five days from September 27 to October 1, 2017, the capital of Byzantine chant will be the city of Iași, where some of the world’s most renowned performers of Byzantine music will perform concerts and religious services.

In addition to Cappella Romana, specializing in medieval Byzantine chant, the festival will also present the Greek Byzantine Choir, Greece; the Choir of the Nea Skiti Monastery, Mount Athos, Greece; the Choir of the Hamatoura Monastery, Lebanon; the “St John Damascene” Choir, Serbia; and multiple choirs and Byzantine chanters from Romania.

“We are thrilled to be invited to this prestigious event,” said Mark Powell, executive director of Cappella Romana. “We are grateful to His Eminence, Teofan, Archbishop of Iași and Metropolitan Bishop of Moldavia and Bukovina, and to Adrian Sîrbu and Ștefan Mihalcea (artistic and executive directors) for their support of Cappella Romana’s tour to the region.”

This is Cappella Romana’s first appearance in Romania.

About Cappella Romana

Its performances “like jeweled light flooding the space” (Los Angeles Times), Cappella Romana is a professional vocal chamber ensemble dedicated to combining passion with scholarship in its exploration of the musical traditions of the Christian East and West, with emphasis on early and contemporary music. Cappella Romana’s name refers to the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe, as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople (“New Rome”) and its Slavic commonwealth.
 
Music Director and Founder Alexander Lingas and Cappella Romana have established themselves as global leaders in the music of the Christian East and West. A presentation by Cappella Romana is an experience unlike any other vocal music concert. Some programs feature ancient music never before heard by modern audiences; on other occasions new or rediscovered works based on ancient models are brought to audiences from leading contemporary composers.