Education
Musical Terminology for the Season of Summer Heat!
Passionate & Fiery: Terms like appassionato (with passion), con fuoco (with fire), or fervido (fervid/glowing) are used to describe a piece played or sung with intense, burning emotion.
NEW!
Antiochian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Online Music School
Fall 2026 semester. Enrollment closes Friday, Sept 4, 2026.
⊕ Byzantine and Choral music education.
⊕ For new and experienced Orthodox church musicians.
⊕ A new Western notation sightreading class.
⊕ A special class for clergy about chanting hymns, petitions and gospel readings.
⊕ A special class on the Typicon, how to organize divine services.
⊕ Fall Semester: Sept 7 through Dec 17, 2026, with a mid-semester break.
⊕ Classes meet once a week for one hour.
⊕ More Information & Registration HERE!
Youth
Complete Information and Application HERE. Application and Audition Recording must be submitted no later than Sunday May 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST.
Anitochian Youth Music Ministry Program
The Sacred Music Department enters into its fourteenth year of Youth Music Ministry at the Sacred Music Institute and we encourage you to audition!
If God has given you the gift of music, what better way to use that gift than for His service? The Youth Music Ministry (YMM) program provides the tools to enhance that gift. Our next YMM will be at the Antiochian Village in Pennsylvania the weekend of Wednesday, July 9 through Sunday, July 13, 2025.
The Mission Statement of the Sacred Music Youth Music Ministry is “…to bring together young Orthodox Christians with a love for music and a desire to serve their Church, to work toward the common goal of understanding and living the theology of Orthodox hymnography to the Glory of God. “
Always looking to improve, we have pivoted the Youth Music Ministry (YMM) to better serve the teens who are accepted into the program. The teens will audition as part of their application to be accepted. This will help the group selected begin with a baseline of commonality, those who are serious singers who desire to serve their church, a ministry that lasts a lifetime. Applicants will show in their audition that they can match pitch, read music and sing. The audition is short and simple but will show the applicant knows the very basics.
National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians
Gigi Shadid, Orthodox Musician and Educator
“The truth is, parents want their children to learn about God and about their faith, but many have a lack of knowledge themselves. That is why music is so effective. Kids and parents can listen and together learn and grow in their knowledge and faith in Christ and their love for His Holy Church. Liturgical music and original Orthodox music are two kinds of music that speak to the soul.” Read the Full Article.
GigiSongs website. Presvytera Gigi’s YouTube site.
Gigi Baba Shadid is the wife of an Orthodox Christian priest, mother of three, and an award-winning educator who is passionate about teaching with music. She received a Masters in Theology with a specialization in Youth Ministry at the Antiochian House of Studies. Gigi is the founder of Music Learn, an educational music company, and has produced numerous albums including:
- “Mother of God (2024)”
- “Thine Own” (2023)
- “Fight the Good Fight”
- ”Fruits of the Spirit”
- “Celebrate the Feasts”
- “The ABCs of Orthodoxy”
Music by Teen SOYO on Apple Music.
Teen SOYO is the Society of Youth Organizations for ages 13-19 within the Antiochian Orthodox church. SOYO brings its members to a deeper devotion to the Holy Orthodox Church, its faith, canons and worship. Teen SOYO creates and fosters ministries to encourage Members to commit themselves to living the Orthodox Faith daily. The combination of Worship, Witness, Service and Fellowship are the natural expressions of that commitment.
The Youth Music Ministry (YMM) is a program within the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Sacred Music that convenes in conjunction with the summer Sacred Music Institute and also as independent youth track. It helps develop a course for musical training and future development of young church musicians who are between the ages of 14 to 18 years.
Available for purchase at Patristic Nectar.
$100 for Director and Student Manuals (Two Vol. Set). Purchase includes Rights to make one copy of Director Manual, and unlimited copies of Student Manual.
Adults
St Tikhon’s Monastery Music Program
America’s oldest Orthodox Monastery, Saint Tikhon’s in northern Pennsylvania, offers a unique one-year music residency program, as well as weekend workshops, for those wanting to expand their knowledge and skills within Orthodox sacred music. St. Tikhon’s Monastery Music Program. Are you searching for:
- a way to grow as a church music leader?
- a program to help you master musicianship skills?
- a place to immerse yourself in a full Orthodox liturgical life?
- opportunities to expand your knowledge of Orthodox sacred music?
- a place where you can learn from and collaborate with expert artists and teachers?
VRev. Dr John Erickson: Keynote at 2024 Colloquium, Liturgical Music in Orthodox Theological Education
Former Professor of Church History and Dean Emeritus, the Very Rev. Dr John Erickson returned to St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary to deliver the keynote address for the 2024 Colloquium on Liturgical Music in Eastern Orthodox Theological Education. Fr John gave his talk Identity, Authenticity, Fidelity: Stories From the Last Century and What We Might Learn From Them Today.
Saints of Music
Saint Romanos the Melodist, A Syrian Poet [Oct 1]
“The hymnologists of the Orthodox Church are Christians of virtue and great faith, having been endowed with musical talent as well as the power of religious inspiration. Their creations have enriched our worship services and have helped turn our souls towards God. Perhaps the greatest of all hymnologists is St. Romanos the Melodist (5th/6th century). Many other hymnologists have written ecclesiastical hymns, but none of them inspired the Christians as much as St. Romanos.” This statement, issued by the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians concisely states the reverence, appreciation and feeling all Orthodox Christians have for St. Romanos.
Saint John Koukouzelis, Hymnographer of Mount Athos (Oct 1]
Saint John Koukouzelis, a native of Dirrachia (Bulgaria), was orphaned in childhood. Endowed with a very fine voice, he entered the Constantinople court school. He found favor with the emperor John Comnenos (1118-1143) and became a chief court singer. The sumptuousness and luxury of the imperial court bothered the pious youth. Once, when asked what he had eaten for dinner, he replied, “Beans and peas.” The name Koukouzelis (beans and peas) stuck with him ever after.
Read more about St John – SVOTS.
Read more about St John – Wikipedia
Saint Cecilia [Nov 22]
St. Cecilia (2nd/3rd century) is regarded as the patroness of music, because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married, and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.
Officials exhumed her body in 1599 and found her to be incorrupt, the first of all incurrupt saints. She was draped in a silk veil and wore a gold embroidered dress. Officials only looked through the veil in an act of holy reverence and made no further examinations. They also reported a “mysterious and delightful flower-like odor which proceeded from the coffin.”
Read about St Cecilia – OCA
Read more about St Cecilia.
Western Saints of Music
Instrumentalists galore! Stringed insturments, horns, percussion…