2008-2009 Metropolitan Cantor Institute
The following dates have been set for the 2008-2009 Metropolitan Cantor Institute:
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
- Saturday, November 22, 2008
- Saturday, January 17, 2009
- Saturday, February 21, 2009
- Bright Saturday,April 18, 2009 – Day of Reflection & Spirituality at the Cathedral
Due to scheduling conflicts, Saturday, September 20 - the planned start of the MCI Saturday Program for 2008-09 - has been deleted from the schedule. Session 3 classes will begin on Saturday, October 18. Please see the new MCI brochure to view the revised schedule and print a registration form to mail in and reserve your spot in Session 3, which focuses on the Divine Liturgy.
Note - According to Darlene Fejka, the MCI Coordinator, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute program will consist of a cycle of 5 one-year sessions, each of which will consist of four weeks of classes plus the Day of Reflection. Each week will take place on a Saturday and consist of five classes. I have adjusted the terminology on the Upcoming Events calendar accordingly.
Samohlasen Tone Tutorial
In 2006, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute prepared a 40-page tutorial to singing the eight samohlasen tones - the common melodies for stichera at Vespers, Matins and other services. This tutorial is now available online; a new and expanded version is in preparation, so please send any comments or suggestions you may have!
Outlines for Great Vespers?
Last year, at the request of the deacon's program in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, we prepared detailed weekly outlines for the service of Great Vespers, showing where to find the various parts of the service in the Sunday Vespers book and the weekly propers (see the Liturgical Calendar box to the right). If you would be interested in continuing to have these available, please drop a note to Jeff Mierzejewski.
New Page for Draft and Pre-Release Music
To help ensure the quality of MCI publications, we are now making music and web pages available before official release, on the For Review page. Please take a look periodically, and send any comments of questions you may have!
Looking for Local Recordings of Prostopinije!
We would like to expand our archival collection of recorded prostopinije, old and new, in order to provide a record of prostopinje use in Europe and in the New World, to prevent any further loss of melodies, and to support the process of setting texts in English to the Church's plainchant.
Parishes or individuals with recorded prostopinije who are willing to grant non-exclusive webcast rights to the Metropolitan Cantor Institute are asked to contact the webmaster, Jeff Mierzejewski, at ByzKat@stny.rr.com. Along with the recordings themselves, please provide a description of where and when they were recorded, and the names of the cantor(s) if known.


