"Make a Joyful noise to God all the Earth…"

One of the purposes of our church choir is to worship God with our voices. I've heard it said that there can be no Liturgy without the people/choir to respond to the Priest's petitions. Our part then is to sing "joyfully" as we do the "work of the people" which is exactly what Liturgy means. Ideally, our choir will be made up of those in the congregation with gifted voices who are musically inclined and committed to using their talents for the corporate worship. 

Orthodox tones and musical settings are among the most beautiful in the whole world and here in the Antiochian Orthodox Church we draw on traditional music from around the Orthodox world, as well as from the Middle East. But beyond the beauty of the music there lies the deeper sense of what is actually being sung and heard in our church…no less than the very word of God! One is struck by the amount of Holy Scripture that is imbedded in the hymnography of the Orthodox Church as well as the doctrinal teachings of various troparias and kontakias that point to the "Ortho-doxia" or straight teaching of the Church. 

The Goal of our choir, then, is to create an atmosphere through well-sung music, that encourages worship as we sing and chant the word of God as well as the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Also, let's not forget the "Joyful" part of what we do. For singers there is nothing more pleasing than to make beautiful music together with the other members of the choir. I'm hoping that our choir will make a joyful noise and bring joy to all who participate. That's my goal! 

Our choir meets one day a week for rehearsal.

If you are interested in singing with us, please see Dn. Spyridon Hanna.

“Singing is Praying Twice!” – St. Augustine