The Society has as its aims: 1. The fomentation of contact and sharing of information between Orthodox church musicians and institutions with like aims internationally; The Second International Conference, with the theme “Composing and Chanting in the Orthodox Church,” was held in June 2007, with an even larger number of participants, and the Third International Conference, whose theme is “Church, State and Nation in Orthodox Church Music”, was held in June 2009,was heavily subscribed, thereby vindicating the vision of the founding members of the Society, to bring together musicians of diverse traditions with the Orthodox Church (and, it should be said, from related theological and musicological fields) with the aim of encouraging dialogue and discussion and the sharing of ideas. The Proceedings of the 2005 and 2007 conferences are currently available for purchase. These webpages are constantly being developed and expanded, so please bookmark this site and return frequently. On behalf of ISOCM, Rev. Dr Ivan Moody,
Chairman The ISOCM Board |
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Ivan Moody, Chairman of the Society The Rev. Dr. Ivan Moody is a composer, conductor, and musicologist, and priest of the Greek Orthodox Church. His largest work to date is a complete setting of the Akathistos Hymn in English; other extended works include a series of concertos for piano, 'cello, double-bass and viola. Liturgical music includes a Finnish-language Vigil Service. Research includes a large number of articles and papers on contemporary and early sacred music. Contact Information |
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Ardian Ahmedaja Dr. Ardian Ahmedaja was born in Tiranë, Albania. Since 1991, he has been living in Vienna, Austria where he has studied composition and theory of music (MA 1995), as well as Folk Art and Musical Sciences (PhD 1999). He works as a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. His main research interests include the local music cultures in the Balkans: music and religion, music and minorities, and multipart music in Europe. His field work has been completed in Albania, Croatia, Greece, FYR Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Southern Italy and Sicily. Contact Information |
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Yulia Artamonova Dr. Yulia Artamonova works for the Gnessins’ Russian Academy of Music (RAM) in Moscow as a editor-in-chief of the academic Journal of Musicology “Vestnik RAM” as well as of the RAM website. She is also a senior research fellow. Her academic interests include Orthodox church music, Znamenny Chant, and the singing culture of the Hilandar monastery (Mt Athos). Contact Information |
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David Lucs David Lucs is a choir director and composer in the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), who studied liturgical music and directing at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. He served as a consultant for the OCA's Department of Liturgical Music, assisting with projects to provide musical settings and resources for parish choir use, he has also served as a parish choir director, and been involved with developing resources for PSALM, a pan-Orthodox music society in North America. His academic research interests include the historical development of liturgical worship and its dialogic structure, which have shaped the style of his compositions for divine services. Contact Information |
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Petri Nykänen, Vice-Chairman of the Society Petri Nykänen is a cantor and choir director who works as a lecturer of Orthodox Church Music at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu. He is also a deacon and serves at the Joensuu Seminary church of St. John the Theologian. He was among the first who studied Orthodox church music (1988-1993) at the Univerisity of Joensuu prior to becoming a cantor. After several years as a cantor, he returned to the same university to begin doctoral studies within the same subject. He has also studied musicology at the University of Jyväskylä and conducting in the Sibelius-Academy. He has served on the board of the Orthodox Cantors of Finland (1995-2004), as a member in the committee for collective bargaining in the Orthodox Church of Finland (1998-2004), and is also a member of the church music section in the Publishing Committee of Orthodox Liturgical Literature (2008-). His dissertation project deals with the methods for adaptating old Russian monodic chant into Finnish liturgical practice. Contact Information |
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Maria Takala-Roszczenko, Secretary of the Society Maria Takala-Roszczenko is a doctoral student at the Theological Faculty of the University of Joensuu, Finland. She studied English and Russian languages (Master of Philosophy 2003) and Orthodox church music (Master of Theology 2005) at the same university. She has also studied at the UMCS of Lublin, Poland. Her publications include articles on the Finnish and Ruthenian church singing traditions, a Finnish guide to the Znamenny notation and a collection of East Slavic Chrismas kolyadki translated into Finnish. Her future dissertation explores the Latin elements in the Eastern-rite liturgical music in the 17th – 18th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She also works as a cantor in the Finnish Orthodox church. Contact Information |
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