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St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Faculty

Mark Bailey


Articles
Video & Audio
Professional Experience
Church Activities
Professional Activities & Bio

Lecturer in Liturgical Music

mark.bailey@yale.edu

  • B.M. Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, 1984

  • M.M. Yale School of Music/Yale Institute of Sacred Music, New Haven, CT, 1989 (Thesis: "Composing Orthodox Liturgical Music: An Approach to Setting English Texts")

  • Conducting Fellow, Conductors Institute, Hartt School of Music, Hartford, CT, 1991-1992

Articles

  • "Tradition and Change in the New World: The Role of Music in Liturgy Today," Psalm Notes vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring 2004).

  • "Ancient Ideas and Innovative Contours: Rachmaninoff's Pervasive Composition Use of Chant," PSALM Music Journal, (upcoming).

  • "Toward a Living Tradition of Liturgical Music in Orthodox America," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly vol. 47, no. 2 (2003), 183-209.

  • "The Impact of Translated Text on Musical Form in Byzantine Liturgical Practice," Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies vol. 41-42 (2001-2002), 129-153.

  • "Psalmic Music in Orthodox Liturgy as Foundation, Movement, and Ministry," Jacob's Well (Summer 2000), 21-25.

  • "A Lenten Look at Liturgical Music"
    Based on paper given at Holy Trinity Greek Archdiocesan Cathedral, New York City, on March 18, 1999.

  • "Liturgical Singing as Icon," Psalm Notes vol. 3, no. 1 (Fall 1998), 1-3.

  • "The Ministry and Song of the Liturgical Assembly," Jacob's Well (Spring/Summer 1998), 26-30.

  • "Fundamental Concepts in Vocal Technique and How They Apply to Orthodox Sacred Singing," Psalm Notes vol. 2, no. 1 (Spring 1997), 1, 13-17.

  • "Composing Orthodox Liturgical Music in the Contemporary World," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly vol. 40, nos. 1 & 2 (1996), 65-75.

  • Numerous papers, presentations, and workshops given annually at academic symposia,  the St. Vladimir's Summer Institute, and for national diocesan music conferences and pan-Orthodox liturgical gatherings, 1989-present.

Video & Audio

  • New Haven Oratorio Choir Live! Mark Bailey, cond.
    CD and audio cassette, NHOC, Inc., 1999.

  • Slavic Sacred and Secular Choral works, Mark Bailey, cond. (with the Yale Russian Chorus) CD forthcoming.

  • Chants and Carols, Mark Bailey, cond. (with the Yale Russian Chorus)
    CD,
    Epiphany Recordings, Inc., 1996.

  • "Psalmic Music in Orthodox Liturgy as Foundation, Movement, and Ministry"
    Audio cassette,
    Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, Claremont, NH, 1998.

  • "Singing Texts in Translation"
    Audio cassette, SVS Press, 1998.

  • "Panel Discussion on Translations", with Bishop Kallistos Ware, Archimandrite Ephrem (Lash), Paul Meyendorff et. al.
    Audio cassette, SVS Press, 1998.

  • "The Life of Worship through Music"
    Video, Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, Wayne, NJ, 1998.

  • Keynote lectures I & II (on composition) and composition seminar sessions, Liturgical Singing Seminar
    Audio cassette, c/o Psalm Notes, Ben Lomand, CA, 1998.

  • "The Choir Rehearsal: Planning, Preparation, and Rehearsal Techniques"
    Audio cassette, SVS Press, 1996.

  • "The Question of Transcription: Determining the Criteria"
    Audio cassette, SVS Press, 1995.

  • "Orthodox Music Today: Contemporary Chant"
    Audio cassette, SVS Press, 1994.

Professional Experience

  • Lecturer in Liturgical Music, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1992-           present.

  • Professor of the Fine Arts, Pace University, begins Fall 2005.

  • Fellow, Davenport College, Yale University, 2004-present.

  • FreshmAn Advisor, Davenport College, Yale University, 2004-present.

  • Artistic Director, Yale Russian Chorus, Inc., 1995-present.

  • Music Director, New Haven Oratorio Choir and Orchestra, Inc., 1993-present.

  • Music Director, Westchester Concert Singers, begins summer 2005.

  • Music Director, Manchester Symphonic Chorale, 1999-2004.

  • Principle Guest Conductor, Manchester Symphony Orchestra, 1999-2004.

  • Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director, Benchmark Performance Series, 1997-2001.

  • Artistic Director and Co-founder, New England Benefit Orchestra, 1993-1996.

  • Research Associate, Historical Sound Recordings, Yale Music Library, New Haven, CT, 1998-present.

  • Music Editor, Psalm Notes, 1998-present.

  • Reviewer/Critic of sacred music recordings, Musica Russica, 1997-2003.

  • Music Director, Benjamin Britten Project Orchestra, 1992.

  • Music Director, Sine Nomine Chamber Choir, Yale University, 1990-1993.

  • Artistic Director, Festival Chamber Orchestra at Yale, 1986-1989.

  • Asst. Conductor, Yale Camerata, 1986-1989.

  • Conductor, Penfield Senior High Youth Orchestras, 1984-1985.

  • Asst. Conductor, Eastman Philharmonia and Symphony Orchestras, 1983-1984.

  • Asst. Conductor, Eastman Opera Department, 1983-1984.

  • Keynote speaker: Diocesan Assembly of the South, Liturgical Singing Seminar, 1998, Common Quest Foundation at Yale, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, etc.

Church Activities

  • Consultant and Committee Member, Metropolitan's Committee on Liturgy and Music, Orthodox Church in America, 2002-present.

  • Committee Member, Department of Liturgical Music, Orthodox Church in America, 1985-1987

  • Director of Liturgical Music and Choir Consultant, St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, Rochester, NY (Choir Director, 1982-1985), 1986-present.

  • Co-Founder, Board of Directors Member and Committee Chair, PSALM, 1998-present.

  • Music Editor and Executive Committee Member, Psalm Notes, Ben Lomand, CA, 1998-present.

  • Liturgical music lecturer, conference/workshop leader, and guest conductor, 1992-present.

  • Liturgical music composer, 1983-present.

  • Liturgical music consultant, St. Stephen's Orthodox Church, Orlando, FL, 1997-2000.

  • Liturgical music composition and conducting consultant/tutor, 1995-present.


Professional Activities & Bio

Mark Bailey is broadly experienced in the choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoires, with special emphasis on Orthodox liturgical music, especially from the Slavic tradition. He was appointed artistic director of the Yale Russian Chorus (YRC) in 1995. Mr. Bailey also serves as music director of the New Haven Oratorio Choir, a period-style choral and instrumental ensemble specializing in 18th century music as well as other genres, and, beginning in 2005-2006, he will become music director of the Westchester Concert Singers (in-residence at Pace University, where he is also being given a faculty position). His former positions include music director of the Manchester Symphonic Chorale, co-founder and director of the New England Benefit Orchestra, assistant conductor for the Heidelberg Castle Opera Festival, Heidelberg, Germany, and music director of the Festival Chamber Orchestra at Yale. In 1992 Mr. Bailey was an orchestral conducting fellow at the Conductors Institute, Hartford, Connecticut, where he worked closely with several prominent American composers, including Pulitzer prize winner Stephen Albert, shortly before Mr. Albert's death.

Mr. Bailey's work with the YRC is documented on Chants and Carols, an internationally released recording that has received critical acclaim and was placed on the New York Times "Critic's Choice list" in 1996, as well as recommended as a "must have" by National Public Radio's Performance Today and Billboard Magazine, among others. He has also conducted on gala performances at Carnegie Hall, receiving praise from New York Times critic Bernard Holland. Mr. Bailey has also been noted by the New York Times as a leading expert in the field of Slavic sacred music, a topic on which he frequently lectures throughout the country, including at Lincoln Center and at several prominent universities and institutions.

Currently, Mark Bailey serves on the faculty of St Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary, Crestwood, New York, where he conducts weekly and teaches composition, choral leadership techniques, and voice. He is published on a variety of topics related to Orthodox liturgical music. He also leads seminars for Orthodox musicians on conducting, singing, and composition. Mr. Bailey, who sits on the Board of Directors for PSALM, a pan-Orthodox organization of liturgical musicians, which he co-founded, is also music editor of Psalm Notes, editor of PSALM's forthcoming journal, and a CD reviewer for Musica Russica.

Additionally, Mr. Bailey is a prolific composer of instrumental and choral/vocal music. Most of his compositions, in fact, are written for Orthodox liturgy. His works, many of which are commissioned and published, have been premiered at Lincoln Center, Yale University, Boston's renowned Emmanuel Church, throughout the North America, and at St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, and his liturgical settings are sung in churches throughout North America and abroad. He is co-founder of the Benchmark Performance Series on Cape Cod and created the annual Slavic Choral Festival at Yale. Mr. Bailey's music performance degrees were earned at the Eastman School of Music (1984), and the Yale School of Music/Yale Institute of Sacred Music (1989), where he also studied liturgy and Russian. His former teachers include Aidan Kavanagh (liturgy), Marguerite Brooks, Harold Farberman, and David Effron.