The Cathedral Choir
Glory to Jesus Christ!
The choir of St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral plays an important role in the life of our parish. The word liturgy means “the work of the people,” and is the central act of the people of God, gathered in community to offer praises, worship, and thanksgiving to God.
The choir leads the faithful in responding to the prayers and exclamation of the clergy and in singing the hymns which proclaim the beliefs and theology of the Orthodox faith. In a way, the liturgical music is a living library expressing what we know within the music which heightens the experience from merely spoken words.
The role of the choir is therefore very important, ensuring the words are sung with clarity, just as the clergy preach the Good News of Jesus Christ in the Gospel. The responses of the liturgy are not solely for the choir to offer, but for all those gathered to offer praises to God with us.
Our choir is composed of volunteers with various levels of musical experience and backgrounds, who share a common love for the divine services and offering their voices for the glory of God.
All are invited to join us during divine services and at rehearsals on Wednesday evenings during the school year beginning at 7 p.m.
In Christ,
Benjamin Sawchak, director
Choir Resources
Schedules
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Rehearsals are on Wednesdays from September through May from 7-8:30 p.m.
Musical Resources
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OCA Department of Liturgical Music:
oca.org -
Diocese of the Midwest
midwestdiocese.org/music.html -
ISOCM
isocm.com -
Musica Russica
musicarussica.com -
Podoben Music Site
podoben.org -
St. John of Damascus Society
johnofdamascus.org
Contact Info
Benjamin Sawchak, music director
phone: 913-232-1854
email: choirdirector@stmarysoca.org
The choir of St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral sings at all divine services and has a been a fixture of the parish and the Twin Cities since 1891. Read more
Recordings
Here are a selection of recent recordings from the choir for the feasts of the liturgical year and from the Divine Liturgy.
St. Mary’s Choir Legacy
The 11th annual St. Alexis (Toth) Lecture was presented by Priest Mikel Hill.
Paul Zaichenko: Minneapolis' Musical Missionary
Music played a leading role in the mission of the Orthodox Church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A leading figure was Paul Zaichenko, choir director at Saint Mary’s in Minneapolis from 1891- 1903. Zaichenko served as an ambassador to the American public, presenting the beauty of the Orthodox Church in a way that was approachable and engaging.
This lecture explores Zaichenko’s life and work: in San Francisco, then in Minneapolis and later, in Ansonia, CT and Chicago, as well as recounting his marriage at Saint Mary’s Cathedral, the birth and progress of his two sons, and his development as a teacher, pianist, and composer.
The Protecting Veil of the Theotokos
This 2018 recording by the St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral Choir highlights hymnography from the Vigil and Liturgy for the patronal feast of our parish: The Protection of the Theotokos (celebrated annually on October 1).
Many hymns, such as the stichera, troparia, kontakia, and exaposteilaria for the feast are arranged to special melodies and chants that are not well-known in the English-speaking Orthodox world. The remaining hymns are either set to melodies common in Eastern Slavic Orthodox Churches or are recent compositions.
One of the new compositions featured on this recording is a Cherubic Hymn by Resa Ellison, a former conductor of the Cathedral Choir who reposed unexpectedly at the young age of 31 in 2010. This music score was not found until 2017, mainly by accident, when music files were being deleted from the computer in the cathedral’s music office. We are happy and honored to include Resa’s composition in this recording, both as a tribute to her work with the choir and in her loving memory.
Other contemporary composers featured on this recording, in addition to Resa Ellison, include: Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), Archbishop Job (Osacky), Archpriest Sergei Glagolev, Dr. Peter Jermihov, Dr. Kurt Sander, and Peter Drobac.
Make Ready, O Bethlehem
In the Orthodox Christian Faith, Christmas plays an important role in the life of the Church. This feast does not just proclaim the coming of Christ, but for believers, it gives the Church the chance to contemplate the inexplicable: the Divine becoming human, the Transcendent One entering time, the Immortal putting on flesh.
These deep theological truths, which form the heart of the Christian message, are easily said, but difficult to internalize and make real. The experience of the Church has always been to express these profound dogmas not in lengthy sermons or treatises, but in its hymnody, which the faithful sing at the liturgical assembly. Through the faithful’s active participation in praying these sacred texts, the Church gives life to the feast, making it a reality to those present.
This 2016 recording does something other Christmas recordings have not attempted. It presents Orthodox hymnography from the liturgical year that foreshadows and prepares the Church for the incarnation of Christ.
Hymnography for Christmas does not first appear on the feast itself (December 25), but, in many ways, on Annunciation (March 25) when the Church proclaims in the festal troparion, “Today is the beginning of our salvation.”
Then, beginning with the feast of St. Andrew (November 30), the feast of St. Nicholas (December 6), and the prefestal days before Christmas, the services in the Church are sprinkled with hymns set to special melodies which point towards Christ’s coming.
Quite possibly, what is most interesting about this disc is that, in most cases, this is the first time many of the prefestal hymns have been recorded in English according their special melody. In a very real way, this recording takes the listener on a liturgical journey from the Annunciation to Christmas by way of the Church’s hymnography.
