+ Fr. Isaac Crow +

This is a remembrance from our Boston Byzantine Choir Director, Charlie Marge about a dear friend and priest recently reposed.

It is with great sadness, but with the hope of the resurrection, that we inform you of the passing of Fr. Isaac Crow, pastor of Sts. Peter & Paul in Potomac, MD and father of our BBC alum and composer, Basil Crow.  From our early days, Fr. Isaac was a strong supporter of the Boston Byzantine Choir and offered our ministry much encouragement over the years.  He was a kind and gentle man, full of faith and wisdom.  He battled cancer on and off over the past few years, which had just returned three weeks ago.  In the words of his Khouriyee, “He died a true Christian.  With every pain and tribulation he would say ‘Thank God.’”  We will miss him dearly.

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12 Days of Christmas Recording

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I am so excited to report that we are releasing previews of our full CD of the 12 Days of Christmas in the Byzantine chant style.

Like the group on Facebook, and until the 12th day on January 5, receive a new preview from the CD: https://www.facebook.com/BostonByzantineChoir/

Here is a list of the  previews which have already been released:

I recommend especially the one about Caesar Augustus. Very rich historically, theologically, and musically. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

East Meets West

32267134888_4423af09d2_kFirst Sunday of Advent in West
Montreal, Quebec

I used to say that Boston was the most European city in North America. That was until I visited Montreal, Quebec, our neighbors to the north in Canada. Now I claim Boston’s most European status only for America. Ah, Montreal. What an elegant, cultured, and beautiful city. It was the perfect place to debut music from the Boston Byzantine Choir’s sixth CD, Twelve Days, set to come out before the 25th of this month (watch this blog for the official announcement). Our concert as advertised previously was entitled East Meets West and combined the music of our choir with the more western pieces played and sung by the choir of our host, St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral. Continue reading

Orthodox Byzantine Music Concert in Montreal, December 2

Montreal Concert FlyerI thought that since some of my subscribers might be local to Quebec, it would be good to hear in advance about an opportunity our little Boston Byzantine Choir of St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge has had to go international (well, okay, just across the border to Canada, but French Canada at least). Announcing a Christmas concert An Orthodox Christmas: East Meets West featuring our own choir and the parish choir of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church of Montreal. The concert will take place in two weeks on Sunday, December 2, 2:00pm-3:40pm at St. George’s, so if you are local, plan on swinging by to hear some extraordinary and otherworldly music. Continue reading

Byzantine Choir Concert in NYC

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To all our friends, please come on Columbus Day weekend if you are local to New York City to hear us in concert at the 50th anniversary of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Ed Day. We will be debuting much of the music soon to be released off of our upcoming Christmas CD. Stay tuned….

This year’s Orthodox Education Day (OED) is a special one. Join us as we celebrate not one, but two fiftieth-year commemorations: fifty years of OED and fifty years of St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press! Continue reading

The 12 Days of Christmas

flierWorking up another Boston Byzantine Concert with Charlie Marge. This time, it is local to our nation’s capital in Washington, DC. Though our family is currently living in Syracuse, NY, we are still members of the Boston Byzantine Choir, attending practices by means of live streaming. I LOVE the 21st century, in which you can still play a part in a choir separated from you by hundreds of miles. Hey, if you are local to DC, come and see us in a few weeks for a program highlighting the 12 days of Christmas, Orthodox (byzantine) style. I promise all you theology nerds out there will NOT be disappointed. And for those who cannot drop everything and rush to Washington in the second weekend in December, there is Good News! We will be cutting almost everything we sing on a new CD to be released sometime in the next year in honor of the choir’s 25th anniversary. Stay tuned…

Lenten Music Concert in Boston

3rdannualhymnfestival-posterFor those who might not have been close to the concert we did in New York/New Jersey, the Boston Byzantine Choir is doing the same program right here in the Boston area, and for the first time, in a non-Orthodox Church! Please join us at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Dedham on Saturday, April 5 at 4pm in the afternoon for a time of spiritual enlightenment and refreshment.

Byzantine Concert in New York

bbc-concert-flyer-Mar-15-2014To all our readers in the New York area, please come to a free Byzantine Lenten music concert that our family will be singing in. The flyer is on the left for those who wish to promote it. Saturday, March 15, 2014 at St. Anthony’s Orthodox Church in Bergenfield, NJ. It’s our choir director’s home parish before he went off to school and became a famous choir director, so it is going to be a bit of a homecoming, featuring many pieces from our Lenten CD released just last year. Also, for those interested in a deeper look at Byzantine chant, a master class will be offered for a small fee. Hope to see you all there. Stay tuned for more information about a concert upcoming in April in the Boston area. It will be our first time ever singing in a non-Orthodox Church!

What I Gave Up to Become Orthodox

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the priesthood of Fr. Antony Hughes at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, the 20th anniversary of the Boston Byzantine Choir, and incidentally also the 20th year of my being an Orthodox Christian, I would like to present this memory of Fr. Antony from the very beginning of his ministry and the very beginning of my walk as an Orthodox Christian. We remembered so many of these tonight at a special banquet in his honor at St. Mary’s… Continue reading

In Montreal for the People of Boston

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Our concert this past weekend in Montreal was an occasion too grand for words. It was an incredible honor to sing such a concert with two wonderful choirs, both ours, the Boston Byzantine Choir, and the theirs, the two choirs … Continue reading