The Choir of Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy
Musical accompaniment to contemporary worship is an integral part of it. According to the tradition of the Orthodox Church, it is the live singing of the faithful that is heard during the divine services. Ukrainian devotional music has a long and deep history that stretches back for more than a millennium. With the restoration of Ukrainian statehood, Kyiv Theological Seminary was revived within the walls of St. Andrew’s Church. Therefore, to ensure that services were performed with melodious singing, a seminary choir was created under the direction of Archpriest Valery Semantso.
The choir expanded and increased its range of possibilities. To restore the tradition of Ukrainian church music, the choir at the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy functions and improves. The choir consists of graduate students and undergraduates of the Academy. The choir performs ancient hymns of the 16th and 17th centuries, partes concerts, traditional chants of Kyiv Cave Monastery and various monasteries, as well as spiritual works by contemporary composers. Modern liturgical music is based on the most complex chants, the reproduction of which requires special skills, effort and prayerfulness. The Ukrainian Orthodox song tradition preserves the heritage of the past, is replenished with new chants, and is emphasised by its inner strength and special sound.
The singing of the choir of Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy was recorded and released on the discs “Songs of Vespers” and “Glasy(Voices)”. Over the course of the choir’s existence, its regents have been Archpriest Ioan Mykhailyshyn, Mstyslav Yurchenko, Oleksandr Bondarenko, Archpriest Petro Boiko, priest Yurii Myhal, and Nadiia Kupchynska. Today the choir is led by the conductor Svitlana Melnychenko and Yurii Tyshchyk. The choir of Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy regularly participates in various state events accompanied by prayer. Every Sunday and on festive days, the choir sings in the academic church in honour of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. It also takes part in festive services at St Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral.
A historic event for the choir was the enthronement of His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epifaniy at St Sophia Cathedral, where the Academy’s choir had the honour of performing liturgical hymns. His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphaniy, the rector of Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy, Archpriest Oleksandr Trofymliuk, and the abbot of St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, Archbishop Agapit, who are in charge of the choir, contribute to the revival of the traditions of the past centuries. The choir of Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy has created many projects that help future clergy discover new talents. Audio tracks are recorded in professional recording studios in Kyiv.
This approach to work encourages them to keep working and gives them hope for even more fruitful work. In their singing, the students of the choir of Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy are always striving to improve their spiritual state, offering sincere prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ. Constant prayer and the desire to improve ourselves are the qualities that give rise to the desire to learn, to hope, to forgive and to love our neighbours.
