Requiem by Stevan Hristić; Serbian Orthodox Music

Directed by composer, conductor & Orthodox priest  REV. DR. IVAN MOODY

"Listeners--many with eyes closed--were taken on a shimmering meditative journey"
--The Georgia Straight (Vancouver, BC, August 2009)

Perhaps the most famous Serbian composer of the first half of the 20th century, Stevan Hristić brought a cosmopolitan view to Serbian cultural life, both as founder of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and director of the Belgrade Opera after completing his education abroad in central Europe. His music taps his Serbian roots, especially in his moving choral masterpiece Opelo, or Requiem. This program features two North American premieres: the Te Deum by Rajko Maksimović, whose Ja na Tvoj poziv touched Cappella Romana audiences so profoundly in 2006, and Seven Hymns for Saint Sava by Ivan Moody.

REV. DR. IVAN MOODY (full biography here) is a Briton living in Portugal, composer, conductor, scholar and musicologist, polyglot, expert in Orthodox music, and, as of 2007, a priest of the Orthodox Church. Moody is best known among Cappella Romana audiences for his largest work to date, The Akáthistos Hymn, written for the ensemble in 1998/9 and subsequently released on CD, a US tour of his Passion and Resurrection (2002), and recently a program of music from the Balkans (2006), and of Finnish Orthodox Music (2008) pending release as a new CD. Recordings of Moody's works sung by the Norwegian ensemble Trio Mediaeval, and as well as the Ravenna Sanctus for the San Franciso-based ensemble Chanticleer remained on the Billboard Top 10 list for weeks. He recently gave a lecture/seminar with Arvo Pärt as part of the RTÉ Living Music Festival in Dublin, Ireland and was re-elected as chairman of the International Society for Orthodox Church music attached to the University of Joensuu, Finland.

PORTLAND: Fri, Feb. 12, 2010, 8pm, St. Mary's Cathedral, 1739 NW Couch St (at 18th)
SEATTLE: Sat, Feb. 13, 2010, 8pm, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 2100 Boyer Ave E.

FOR BOTH CITIES:  Tickets at 503.205.0715 or 800.494.8497
Free pre-concert talk at 7pm in both cities on the Legacy of St. Sava
Tickets start at $22, discounts for seniors and students www.cappellaromana.org

Cappella Romana's name (lit. "Roman Chapel") refers to the Medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe, as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople ("New Rome") and its Slavic commonwealth. Each program in some way reflects the musical, cultural and spiritual heritage of this ecumenical vision. A variety of photos, sound samples, and video clips available upon request. 

ABOUT GUEST ARTIST IVAN MOODY

Short biography above. Full biography here

ABOUT CAPPELLA ROMANA

http://www.cappellaromana.org

Its performances "like jeweled light flooding the space" (Los Angeles Times), Cappella Romana is a vocal chamber ensemble dedicated to combining passion with scholarship in its exploration of the musical traditions of the Christian East and West, with emphasis on early and contemporary music. Its name is derived from the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which included not only "Old Rome" and Western Europe but also "New Rome" (Constantinople) and its commonwealth of Slavic countries.

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