Cappella Romana in Concert
Mt. Sinai: Frontier of Byzantium
This Portland/Seattle-based group of professional singers, conducted by Alexander Lingas, presented medieval chant from the Vigil of St. Catherine, plus The Service of the Three Children in the Fiery Furnace, Byzantium's only liturgical drama. This music was saved from destruction in the Egyptian desert, and has been performed to sold-out audiences in London, Oxford, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The group came to St. Mark's directly from performances at Yale and Brown Universities.
Featured principal soloists: Stelios Kontakiotis from Greece, protopsaltis of the Shrine to the Mother of God on Tinos; and John Michael Boyer, protopsaltis of the Greek Orthdoox Metropolis of San Francisco.
Cappella Romana performs exquisite Byzantine musical treasures—from the cathedrals and monasteries of the Eastern Roman Empire—preserved from destruction in the Egyptian desert at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai. Alternately exuberant and contemplative, this music by medieval virtuosos St. John Koukouzeles, Xenos Korones, and Manuel Chrysaphes was transcribed from Sinaïte manuscripts by Dr. Ioannis Arvanitis.
For more information, explore their website: www.cappellaromana.org
