St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - News Releases News Release Seminary Press Releases Two New Audio CDs

St Vladimir's Seminary Press has recently released Vigil and Chant, two CD recordings of church music sung by the Seminary choirs. The first, a recording of music from the Orthodox Church's All-Night Vigil service, features jubilant antiphonal singing and responsorial psalmody. The second contains music from a wide variety of chant traditions as sung in the seminary chapel: Carpatho-Rusyn, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Znamenny (medieval Russian), and American.

These releases are marked by considerable excitement and enthusiasm, and not only because they are the first new recordings of liturgical music by the seminary in several years. They manage to capture a liturgical tradition that is at the same time ancient and contemporary, and convey it in a way that is beautiful, prayerful, and accessible. They are also understandable to a broad Western listenership, since all of the hymns and chants are sung in English.

The choirs are composed of seminary students and community members under the directorship of Deacon Kevin Smith and Mark Bailey, and were recorded during the winter of 2005 at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Yonkers, NY. These audio CDs are a rich listening experience, giving insight into the multiform liturgical traditions of the Orthodox Church, as well as into the liturgical and missionary vision of St Vladimir's Seminary.