New to this website?
Check out the YouTube video, Mysteries of the MCI Website, for a video tour! (And also the bonus episode, Secrets of the Cantor's Companion.)
Revisions to Holy Week Books
I've finished the (relatively minor) revisions to the Holy Week books for this year, and all are up on the Publications page.
- Bridegroom Matins
- Matins for Holy and Great Thursday
- Vespers with Divine Liturgy for Holy and Great Thursday
- Matins for Holy and Great Friday
- Royal Hours for Holy and Great Friday (including the music supplement, but NOT the shortened Office of Readings)
- Vespers with Divine Liturgy for Holy and Great Friday
- Matins for Holy and Great Saturday (Jerusalem Matins)
- Vespers with Divine Liturgy for Holy and Great Saturday
- The Midnight Office for Pascha
Booklet versions for all these are also available
So what has changed?
- Terminology is more consistent: for example, "Holy and Great" (matching the Greek and Slavonic, as well as our typikon) rather than "Great and Holy" for the days preceding Pascha.
- The psalm texts and priestly prayers now match the current texts from the Inter-Eparchical Liturgical Commission. In particular, some prokeimena have changed
- Books with and without music (Royal Hours) now match.
- In reader services, after the Our Father the leader says "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us," as in our Typika book. (It has proven to be too confusing to have nothing between the end of the Our Father and the congregation's Amen.)
- Splitting of verses and use of the psalm tone is now more consistent.
- Numerous typos and small errors have been corrected. For example, "Lord, have mercy" often ended on a whole note where the Divine Liturgies book had a half note - small stuff like that.
With the exception of the prokeimena, hardly any of the music has changed.
So why the revisions?
I hope to have official books out this year, so I am implementing quite a few changes I have been holding on to, like re-wording in some Psalms and better translations of the priestly prayers. I would much rather have these in front of cantors and clergy NOW, so you can look them over and let me know if you have any concerns or see problems before official versions are printed.
I do NOT suggest you print these off if you already have usable books for any of these services.
- For the rest of this year, if you see anything in an MCI publication you don't like or have questions about correctness, etc, please FIRST look at the current version on the website, and if the problem is still there - drop me a note about it at mci@archpitt.org
- At some point, please look over the new books, at least for the services you know, and send me any concerns you have.
Thanks, and may God bless your Pascha!
Check out the MCI blog!
The MCI web log has been quiet for a while, but is starting to pick up. Here are some of the latest posts:
Voice Instruction and Coaching for Cantors
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute provides a basic course of vocal training as part of the online class, Introduction to Church Singing, and we also recommend that all cantors and prospective cantors find an opportunity to receive at least some individualized instruction and coaching from an experienced voice teacher.
I am pleased to announce that we now have THREE cantor / choir directors who are also experienced voice teachers, and willing to provide vocal instruction to cantors both in-person and online. See the article on finding a voice teacher for more information!
MCI Office Hours and Cantor Chat
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute hosts office hours and a general live chat for cantors every Thursday on Zoom (except when it is the vigil of a great feast):
8:30 - 9 PM (Eastern TIme) Office hours (early)
9:00 - 10 PM (Eastern) Cantor chat / open discussion
10 - 10:30 PM (Eastern) Office hours (late)
If you're taking an MCI class OR just have questions, you can stop in for help or answers, early or late, without having to make arrangements in advance. To just chat with other cantors, stop in for the middle hour. I hope you can make it!
The schedule and Zoom link will be posted here on the MCI home page, top right under Upcoming Events. If I have to cancel office hours for any reason, that will be noted in the same place.
Hymnal update
Based on input from Bishop Milan of Parma, and after consultation with a number of other contributors, I have decided to split the draft hymnal into two pieces - one with the traditional "core" hymns for the liturgical year, in English and original languages on opposite pages; and one with the more recent hymns "for Sundays and feast-days." I believe this will be easier to use overall, and simpler than seasonal hymnals with duplicated material in each one.
Here are the two volumes, which I will be sending to the Inter-Eparchial Music Commission for review and consideration:
- Traditional Hymns of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church (189 pages) - booklet version
- Hymns for Sundays and Feast-days (137 pages) - booklet version
Use them as you like; please send me any suggestions you may have! Individual pages of both books can be printed from the Hymnal Project page, inserted into parish bulletins, etc. I plan to make recordings of each hymn or tune, and also provide harmonizations, as soon as the Music Commission has finished its review!
Seminary library seeks cantor papers
The library of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary is assembling a collection of music and papers from our cantors and choir directors since the founding of our church in the United States. These collections are being indexed and preserved so that that they can be used for research by scholars, and also for fostering our church singing in the future.
If your parish or a retired cantor you know has music, memorabilia, or recordings which might have a place in this collection, please contact Deacon Jeffrey Mierzejewski (412 735-1676, mci@archpitt.org) or library director Sandra Collins (412 32-8383). We also invite donations of materials from family and friends of our cantors who have reposed; this collection will serve as a permanent memorial to their labors.
Mailing List for Cantors
We have migrated the old MCI mailing lists to single list, cantors@groups.io. This new list should be more reliable than the one we have been using, and does NOT require the creation of a Yahoo ID. It also has more options for collaboration, including a wiki and post tagging.
This list will be used for both announcements, and general (moderated) discussion. If you wish to receive email ONLY for announcements, you can set your subscription options to "Special Notices Only."
To subscribe to the list, just go to https://groups.io/g/cantors
Documenting the history of our church music - how you can help
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute is working with the Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library to put together material to document the history of the liturgical music of the Byzantine Catholic Church, both plain chant and choral music. Please consider contributing to these two efforts:
In early 2026, we will also be distributing images of particular pieces of music or other memorabilia we would like to find or identify.
What is the Metropolitan Cantor Institute?
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute exists to support and foster liturgical singing in the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh. At the direction of our bishops, and in cooperation with our clergy and experienced cantors, the Institute trains and certifies cantors for the service of the church, prepares music and educational materials, and provides workshops and seminars in church singing.
The mission of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute:
To ensure that each parish in the Byzantine Catholic Church has a cantor who can lead the liturgical singing of the parish well, to the glory of God and in support of the prayer of the faithful.
For more information, click on Cantor Institute in the left-hand navigation bar on this page.