Difference between revisions of "Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir"

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The Archpriest ‘‘‘Dmitry Grigorieff’‘ was Dean Emeritus of [[St. Nicholas Cathedral (Washington, D.C.)|St. Nicholas Cathedral]] in Washington, D.C., and professor of Russian language and literature at Georgetown University in  Washington.
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The '''Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir''' is a choir composed of Orthodox Christian singers in the New York - New Jersey - Pennsylvania area of the United States. It is committed to singing in the English language the great works of Orthodox music that glorifies God and expresses the Orthodox faith, thus opening the treasury of Orthodox music to the community.  
  
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==Life==
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==History==
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Fr. Dmitry’s father was Dmitry Dmitrievich Grigorieff, the pre-revolutionary vice-governor of Arkhangelsk, Vyatka, and Sakhalin, who in 1918 fled with his family to Riga, Latvia and later to England to escape the Russian Civil War. Fr. Dmitry was born in 1919 while his family was in England. The family subsequently moved to Tokyo, Japan where the young Dmitry was baptized. After the Civil War ended in the early 1920’s, the young Dmitry with his family returned to Riga.  In Latvia, Dmitry completed the Russian high school and entered the Orthodox Theological Institute.
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The Spirit Of Orthodoxy Choir was established in 1997 under the direction of Aleksei Shipovalnikov. The choir consists of singers from various [[parish]]es and [[jurisdiction]]s who are dedicated to church singing and who desire to be witnesses to the faith through music.
  
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As World War II enveloped the Baltic states, Dmitry, a British citizen, was evacuated to Australia, where during the years of 1943 and 1944 he served in the Pacific fleet of the British Merchant Marine. It was during this time that he married his wife, Galina. During the final year of the war he served in the United States with the Office of War Information in New York City.
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These music selections represent three schools of Russian Church music and have been sufficiently translated into English. Some of the choir's repertoire has been unheard in the West. The Choir sings chiefly in English but also performs music in [[Church Slavonic]]. Their repertoire witnesses to the range and quality of the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. Their singing is a capella, without instrumentation. This is typical of the Orthodox Church, where the human voice and soul are invaluable in worship.
  
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After the war, Dmitry entered Yale University from which he received, in 1848, a Master’s degree in Linguistics and Comparative Literature. He continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania from which he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Slavic Studies in 1958. In 1958, he also graduated from the [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York|St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary]] in New York. Before joining the faculty of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Dmitry taught Russian at the Army Language School in Monterey, California and at Columbia University in New York City.  
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==Director==
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Aleksei V. Shipovalnikov was born in Rostov on the Don and studied composition, polyphony and conducting at the Gnesin Sate Conservatory and the Moscow Institute of Culture. His post-graduate studies included a master class with Leonard Bernstein in 1988. He served as Artistic Director and Manager of the Moscow State University Symphony Orchestra and Academic Choir and has conducted in the Soviet Union, West Germany and Poland. He established a reputation during the Communist era for innovative programming in spite of the political risks involved. In 1990 he moved to the United States, where he has served as Choir Director of [[Christ the Saviour Church (San Francisco, California)|Christ the Saviour Church, San Francisco]] and Music Director of Slavyanka Men's Slavic Chorus. He was Professor of Liturgical Music at [[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)|St. Tikhon's Seminary]], South Canaan, Pennsylvania. He is currently Music Director at [[Ss. Peter and Paul Church (Jersey City, New Jersey)|Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Jersey City, New Jersey]].
  
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In 1959, Dmitry joined the faculty of Georgetown University, teaching Russian language and literature, and becoming a professor in 1964. His literary speciality was [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]] and his works. During the early 1960’s, he also taught Church History and Church Slavonic as a lecturer at St. Vladimir’s Seminary and was on the faulty when the seminary moved to Crestwood, New York in 1962. In 1989, he retired from Georgetown University.
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==External Link==
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* [http://www.spiritoforthodoxy.com/ Official website]
  
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While teaching at Georgetown, Dmitry was active in the congregation of the St. Nicholas [[parish]] in Washington and was ordained a [[priest]] in 1969, becoming the second priest. In this capacity Fr. Dmitry introduced English-language divine services to the congregation of the [[cathedral]]. In 1986, he was made Dean of the Cathedral. In 1998, Fr. Dmitry entered semi-retirement as Dean Emeritus, as Fr. Constantine White became Dean of the Cathedral.
 
  
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Also, during 1998 his wife, Galina, died. Fr. Dmitry remained active in the spiritual life of his community and continued to maintained ties with [[church]] of his former homeland. His health weakened during the last few years of his life. He reposed on [[December 8]], 2007 at the age 89.
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[[Category:Church Music]]
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[[Category:Organizations]]
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==Legacy==
 
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Besides his care for his spiritual children, Fr. Dmitry was a scholar with a number of publications to his credit on religion and literature in both Russian and English. His most recent work, “Dostoevsky and the Church”, was published in Moscow in 2002.
 
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He was the recipient of a number of awards. For his dedicated service to the Holy Orthodox Church, Fr. Dmitry Grigorieff was awarded the Order of St. Innocent from His Holiness Patriarch [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Alexei II]] of Moscow. This was the first time that this Order was bestowed upon an American priest. Fr. Dmitry was also awarded the Order of St. Innocent by the [[Orthodox Church in America]], and the Order of the Holy Equals-of-the-Apostles [[Cyril and Methodius|Cyril and Methodius]] by the [[Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia|Orthodox Church of Czechoslovakia]].
 
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==External links==
 
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*[http://www.oca.org/Mem.asp?ID=84&SID=18  Fr. Dmitry Grigorieff]
 
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*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/  Washington Post: Father Dmitry Grigorieff]
 
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*[http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/335659.html Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff] (in Russian)
 
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*[http://www.ocanews.org/news/NewsFromAroundtheOCA12.10.07.html Father Dmitry Grigorieff]
 
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[[Category: Priests]]
 

Latest revision as of 16:04, April 13, 2016

The Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir is a choir composed of Orthodox Christian singers in the New York - New Jersey - Pennsylvania area of the United States. It is committed to singing in the English language the great works of Orthodox music that glorifies God and expresses the Orthodox faith, thus opening the treasury of Orthodox music to the community.

History

The Spirit Of Orthodoxy Choir was established in 1997 under the direction of Aleksei Shipovalnikov. The choir consists of singers from various parishes and jurisdictions who are dedicated to church singing and who desire to be witnesses to the faith through music.

These music selections represent three schools of Russian Church music and have been sufficiently translated into English. Some of the choir's repertoire has been unheard in the West. The Choir sings chiefly in English but also performs music in Church Slavonic. Their repertoire witnesses to the range and quality of the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. Their singing is a capella, without instrumentation. This is typical of the Orthodox Church, where the human voice and soul are invaluable in worship.

Director

Aleksei V. Shipovalnikov was born in Rostov on the Don and studied composition, polyphony and conducting at the Gnesin Sate Conservatory and the Moscow Institute of Culture. His post-graduate studies included a master class with Leonard Bernstein in 1988. He served as Artistic Director and Manager of the Moscow State University Symphony Orchestra and Academic Choir and has conducted in the Soviet Union, West Germany and Poland. He established a reputation during the Communist era for innovative programming in spite of the political risks involved. In 1990 he moved to the United States, where he has served as Choir Director of Christ the Saviour Church, San Francisco and Music Director of Slavyanka Men's Slavic Chorus. He was Professor of Liturgical Music at St. Tikhon's Seminary, South Canaan, Pennsylvania. He is currently Music Director at Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Jersey City, New Jersey.

External Link

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