St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church Choir

Music

Serbian Voices Serbian Song

“Our repertoire consists of music that is both religious and deeply spiritual partnered with a selection of secular pieces undeniably Serbian. “

The Saint Sava Choir sings two very distinct types of choral music namely liturgical and secular compositions. Preparation and rehearsal of a new piece of music can often take many months and choir members work on their vocal technique, tempo, dynamics and expression. The selection of music is the responsibility of our Choir Concert Conductor, Janez Govednik, who brings his selections to the choir board for final approval. Janez and the board look at each piece and evaluate: difficulty, subject matter and appeal. Janez was hired into this position during July 2005 just ahead of our 50th anniversary concert weekend, and continues in this role today.

Religious Music

Almost all of the religious music we sing is written exclusively for performances in an Eastern Orthodox Church setting. The music sung during church services is often both spiritually uplifting or hauntingly moving. It is our hope that our singing enhances not only our own prayerful experience but more importantly, the experience of the clergy and parishioners attending each service. Liturgies, weddings, funeral services, vespers, and christenings are conducted by John Lukich, Church Conductor. John was acting in this role for a number of years, and was officially appointed to this position at the choir annual meeting held February 10, 2008 and is currently in this role.

Liturgical pieces are most often written in Church Slavonic, a language spoken and sung exclusively in Eastern Orthodox churches, where Slavonic tongue is the root language. This includes Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian and Serbian. Some liturgical pieces are also translated into different languages including English and Greek. The Saint Sava Choir sings well over one hundred different liturgical pieces and can sing responses at the following religious services: Baptisms, Divine Liturgies, Funerals, Memorial Services, Weddings and Vespers.

Secular Music

Concert Dress The second type of music we sing is secular and this music is undoubtedly and distinctly Serbian. We learn and perform secular choral pieces written by many of Serbia’s more respected and revered composers. Secular music is often more lyrical and sometimes even boisterous, especially if the piece is about a more joyous subject. On a number of occasions we include musical accompaniment to further enhance our performance. Sometimes, the music we select is more solemn especially if the piece was written to commemorate a moment in Serbia’s history or to remind us of the struggle of our people.

For more information about booking our choir to sing at a special service your family may be planning, please follow this link to Book Our Choir

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