Beloved Church Musicians, November 2009

Greetings in the name of the Lord!

This year the theme for the Ecclesiastical Year is steward-

ship, and your ongoing commitment as chanters, choir directors,

singers and organists is a living example of offering one’s time and

talents for the Lord. I am grateful for your continued commitment

to this ministry and I pray that you will inspire others to join with

you so that our rich Byzantine music tradition can be passed down

to the next generation.

In keeping with this theme of stewardship, the Metropolis

recently launched a new program, the Spirit of Stewardship

Awards, to recognize the

countless volunteers and un-

sung heroes of our communi-

ties and ministries for their

tireless service to the Church.

It was no surprise to me to

find several church musicians

among this year’s honorees.

A most pleasant and

welcome surprise, however,

were the regional Youth

Choirs who prepared a special

musical program which was

performed at each of these

three events. I was especially

uplifted by their angelic

voices and the confidence

with which they sang. The

small group of young singers from the Bay Area took the message

of stewardship to heart, asking people for donations for the sheet

music from which they performed, and then eagerly giving me the

$26 they collected to be used for the Metropolis. This is, indeed, a

true example of stewardship and gives me great hope for the future

of our Church.

I have challenged you before, and I will continue to chal-

lenge you to keep this younger generation inspired and involved in

the Liturgical life of our Church. They have much to offer, but

only if you step aside and let them show you their incredible talent

and commitment.

May the glorious sounds of the angels be a continued in-

spiration to your work, praising God with all your heart and all

your might!

With Love in Christ,

My fellow church musicians, I bid you greetings! I hope

this note finds all of you and your families well. As 2009 comes to a

close, let us reflect on this past year as a Federation. When we met at

our last Winter Business Meeting in Pasadena, we established a Me-

morial Fund and a Listserv to better communicate to each and every

one of you. Our website is almost ready to debut as well, which

makes me very excited.

Our conference this past June was inspiring and uplifting.

I thank our host parish of Sts. Constantine and Helen for a mag-

nificent weekend. Carol Pekras and her crew of many did an out-standing job to make that weekend most enjoyable to all. Another

big debt of gratitude goes to our guest conductors and organist, Neal

Desby, Eva Canellos, Fr. Dino Pappademos, and Christopher

Yokas. We appreciate all your wonderful work.

We also had our Federation board elections the weekend of

our conference. I thank all of you for entrusting me to be your presi-

dent for another two years. I pray that God grants me the strength to

lead our Federation.

A few weeks ago, we had concurrent CMI’s with 4 parishes

hosting. The topic this year was the Nativity. Dr. Tikey Zes did a

wonderful job of preparing all the CMI’s and working with the host

parishes. We hope that everyone who attended enjoyed themselves

and came away with something new.

As I close, please remember that this is a time for giving

and the Federation is asking you to give from your hearts with your

Stewardship.

I wish you all God’s blessings this coming holiday season.

See you in January!

In His Service, Katherine Meck, President

FALL 2009

Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco

A NOTE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT

WINTER BUSINESS MEETING WITH FOLK DANCE, CHORAL FESTIVAL IN JANUARY

The Church Music Federation's Winter Business Meeting will be held

in San Jose, California in conjunction with the Folk Dance and Choral

Festival on Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16, 2010. The host

hotel for that weekend will be the Fairmont, San Jose. The negotiated

rate for the Federation is $129.00 a night for up to two people. An

additional $25.00 per adult, per night charge will apply for a third and

fourth adult in a guest room. To make your reservation, please call

800-346-5550 and refer to SF Church Music Federation to receive

the rate mentioned above. The block of rooms will be held until Janu-

ary 4, 2010. After that, they will be released to the general pub-

lic. We hope to see you there!

It is always a great occasion in my

life when I get an opportunity to conduct my

father's Divine Liturgy music. I grew up hear-

ing it,

singing it,

and loving

it, and it

continues

to be the

music I

know best

in the

world,

including

my own. When I was approached earlier this

year about being guest conductor at this year's

conference, I, quite naturally, jumped at the

chance. I have conducted my father's liturgy

with other federations, Denver and Florida to

name two, but never with his home federation,

so this was a perfect opportunity to realize a

long-held ambition.

Although I have not attended a con-

ference in many years, I have many fond

memories of those I did attend in the 1970's

and '80's. Choir conventions can be a lot of

fun. They are an opportunity to renew old

friendships, make new ones, sing some beauti-

ful and inspiring music, and at the end, go

home with a deep sense of satisfaction that

can only come when like-minded people come

together for a cause greater than themselves.

I had a wonderful time in Cardiff by

the Sea. The members of the Saints Constan-

tine and Helen community who were respon-

sible for organizing the conference deserve a

great deal of praise and have my heartfelt

gratitude. I am also grateful for Kathy Meck

and her superb organizational skills. Man, did

she have a lot to deal with! She put out more

fires and handled more sticky situations than I

thought possible for only one person. But

handle them she did. I wrote to her shortly

after the conference and told her that she

should be an agent in Hollywood, and I wasn't

kidding. My hat is off to you, Kathy. If ever

you get a chance to work in the entertainment

business, by all means take advantage of

it. You're a natural.

After two days of intensive rehearsal,

I was very confident that the liturgy would go

well, but even I was taken aback at how in-

credibly well it did go. I have always felt that

a venerable classic like my father's liturgy

should be approached as if it were a brand

new piece of music, as if the ink were not yet

dry. And that's exactly what happened. From

the opening chords of the Doxology, I knew

that we were off and running, that there would

be no catching us, and that we were on a new

and wonderful adventure that would bring a

lifetime of memories for all who were

there. The energy I felt coming from the choir

was almost overwhelming, and I had to catch

myself a number of times from getting emo-

tional on the podium. A great deal of thanks

must go to Chris Yokas, the federation organ-

ist that morning. Chris and I have celebrated

many liturgies together as conductor/organist,

and he was with me every step and nuance of

the way. His knowledge of the order of ser-

vice is unparalleled, and was a huge security

blanket for me.

There were so many great moments

on Sunday morning. The Doxology was in-

credible, as I said, and set the tone for the rest

of the service. The noble and powerful strains

of the Agios O Theos tou Vimatos sent shiv-

ers up and down my whole body, and continue

to every time I think of it. The Cherubic

Hymn was heavenly, as well it should be. It

is one of the most beautiful pieces my father

ever wrote, and I really wanted it to sound as

though a choir of angels were singing, cliche

though that may sound. Cliche or not, it did

sound like angels singing. Yes, really. I think

we also captured the mystery at the beginning

of the Enite. I could go on and on, but I think

you get the point.

The response following the service

was overwhelmingly positive. People came

up to me with tears in their eyes expressing

their feelings about how beautifully the choir

sang. And I'll never forget the look of aston-

ishment on Metropolitan Gerasimos's face

when he was describing what he'd just

heard! That was worth the whole weekend.

Thank you to everybody who partici-

pated in what turned out to be a glorious ser-

vice. I know that my father would have been

very happy. Rest in peace, Dad. Your music

will always live on and ensure that your mem-

ory will always be eternal.

Neal Desby

Oct. 19, 2009

The In-Choir-Er A publication of the

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of

San Francisco

Church Music Federation

Honorary Chair:

Metropolitan Gerasimos

of San Francisco

President:

Kathy Meck

760-729-6061

sfchurchmusic

@sanfran.goarch.org

Vice President:

Elizabeth Levy

925-243-1611

markandliz@sbcglobal.net

Secretary:

Athena Anastos

480-614-6696

athenaanastos52@qwest.net

Treasurer:

Daralyne Baddour

619/280-7741

Happytax@sbcglobal.net

Regional Administrators:

Northern California:

Dr. Chris Vitakes

510-582-9691

cmvitakes@sbcglobal.net

Southern California: Costa Kourtis

562/597-5191

costakourtis@earthlink.net

Central California:

Margarita Jakovas

916-716-9003

daisymeg29@yahoo.com

Southwest:

Kiki Kyriakakis

520-241-4682

songcat@hotmail.com

Music Minister:

Dr. Tikey Zes

408-723-0640

TZes@sbcglobal.net

Membership Chair:

Mario DiGiovanni

510-654-5266

MnKdigi@comcast.net

In-Choir-Er Editor:

Fareeda Christ

FOR INQUIRIES AND

SUBMISSIONS, CONTACT:

Fareeda Christ at 2467-16th Ave,

San Francisco, CA 94116

415-564-8481

farlex@PacBell.net

(T0 fax, call in advance)

2

ELECTIONS HELD AT SUMMER BUSINESS MEETING for 2009-2011

During our annual Summer Conference Meeting, the following were nominated and

elected to serve on the Executive Board for the 2009-2011 term:

Serving second terms are Kathy Meck, President, and Daralyne Baddour, Treasurer. Newly

elected this term are Elizabeth Levy as Vice President and Athena Anastos, Secretary.

We wish them all the best!!

NEAL DESBY CONDUCTS HIS FATHER’S LITURGY AT CARDIFF BY THE SEA

Our church community of Sts. Constantine and Helen in

Cardiff by the Sea, hosted the 2009 Church Music Federation Con-

ference for three days in June. We arranged and coordinated events

that included rehearsals at our church, an awards banquet at the San

Diego Marriott Del Mar and dinner for 307 on the flight deck of the

historic Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum.

Participants came from Utah, Washington, Arizona, Nevada,

Northern and Southern California and represented thirty-one par-

ishes. In addition to the one hundred and forty eight adults we had

nineteen youth choir members. Our guest conductor, Neal Desby, did a marvelous job of directing

the liturgy of his father, Dr. Frank Desby, of blessed memory, the

noted director and composer/arranger of liturgical music. Also par-

ticipating in the liturgy was Christopher Yokas as our guest organ-

ist, Eva Canellos as our guest youth director and Father Constan-

tine Pappademos as guest chant director.

The voices united in praise to God during the Hierarchical

Liturgy with Metropolitan Gerasimos was a truly memorable ex-

perience for all who shared in this momentous occasion. So many

have sent comments on how welcomed they felt by our entire com-

munity and how much they enjoyed the conference.

Joyfully in His service,

Carol Pekras

Chairperson

GEORGE N. GEORGE AWARD 2009

A combined 133 years of service

At this year’s church music conference at Sts. Constantine and

Helen in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, three worthy recipients were acknowl-

edged for their lifetime service to their choirs and given the George

N. George award. These individuals were Emily Tcsharos from St.

George in Palm Desert, Nick Karidakis from the Assumption of the

Blessed Virgin Mary in Long Beach, and Bessie Pothos from An-

nunciation in Sacramento. Here are brief summaries of their contri-

butions.

Emily Tcsharos: Emily began her church music career for 20 years

in Canada. After moving to the Palm Springs area of California, she

attended a church with no choir. She spent the next 20 years build-

ing up a choir to what it is today. Retired, but still an integral part of

the choir, she trains new singers and substitutes as choir director. As

stated on her nomination form “Like many people who truly love the

Lord, Emily provided a great example of Christian dedication and

leadership.”

Nicholas Karidakis: Nick’s choir career began in the early 1950’s

as a young man. A trained musician, Nick sang in the choir and be-

came the choir director in 1957 for 13 years. After his tenure as di-

rector, Nick joined the ranks of the singers for another 35 years.

When the need for a new director surfaced in 2005, Nick came to the

rescue again until a permanent director was hired. The members of

the Assumption Long Beach choir are very grateful to Nick for his

58 years of service.

Bessie Pothos: Bessie is a loyal, dedicated member of her choir. She

never misses a rehearsal and greets everyone with a smile. In addi-

tion to her choir responsibilities, Bessie is a charter Women’s Board

member of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, Philop-

tochos member, and member of her parish’s Senior League. She is

always there to lend a helping hand and support all aspects of Parish

life. She is a dedicated church musician for over 35 years.

Thank you to all who took the time to nominate your worthy

choir members. If your applicants did not receive the award this

year, please nominate them again! We received 8 nominations in

2009, and all were worthy. Unfortunately, the awards committee

must limit the recipients to just a few. So keep those applications

coming. The George N. George Award has become a joyous tradi-

tion of our church music ministry.

WORTHY AWARD RECIPIENTS

Three very deserving individuals received special recognition at this

year’s Grand Banquet at Cardiff-by-the-Sea, given by Katherine

Meck, President of the Church Music Federation.

The first two recipients received the Patriarch Athenagoras Distin-

guished Service Medal. The first was Alex Christ of San Francisco,

California and the second was Stella Daskalakis Thurkill, formally

of Seattle, Washington and currently residing in Salt Lake City,

Utah. Both of these individuals have given of themselves to their

church and the Federation in both service and music for many years.

The highest honor given by the Federation is the icon of St. John the

Damascene and St. Cosmas the Melodist. This year’s recipient was

Kristen Bruskas of Phoenix, Arizona. She has been involved in all

aspects of the Federation, including serving as president for nine

years. She is also a past recipient of the Athenagoras Medallion.

We congratulate all three recipients by saying “Axios” “Worthy”.

3

REMEMBERING THE 2009 SUMMER CONFERENCE

THANK YOU, CONFERENCE YOUTH CHOIR!

What a great privilege it was to direct the talented youth

choir at this summer’s Church Music Conference at Sts. Con-

stantine and Helen Church in beautiful Cardiff-by-the-Sea!

The 20 youth choir singers, ranging in age from 8 to 17

(all extremely tall, by my standards), sang beautifully and

showed what outstanding people they are! They were ex-

tremely nice, well-mannered and respectful (if you don’t count

a few who patted their director on the head). They really

bonded at the pool party and throughout the weekend. I loved

working with them to sing for the glory of God!

At the Saturday banquet, the youth choir sang the meal

blessing prayer and then performed Steve Cardiasmenos’

“Jesus Is the

Resurrection”

and a fun song,

“Music, Hoo-

ray!” to the

t u n e o f

“ A n c h o r s

Aweigh.”

On

Sunday morn-

ing, the youth

choir sang por-

tions of the liturgy by themselves and other portions with the

gorgeous adult choir. I’ll never forget that beautiful service

and the heavenly sounds that were created by the choirs as they

sang in worship!

Along with the liturgy, my favorite part of the confer-

ence was the exciting visit to the aircraft carrier museum USS

Midway. We ate dinner on the flight deck, surrounded by awe-

some fighter

jets and the

American flag

flying high and

lit-up by huge

flood lights. It

was a little

cold-- okay,

freezing-- but

still magnifi-

cent!

Thank

you and con-

gratulations to

the youth singers who offered their time and talent to the

Lord: Kyra Balourdas, Katelyn Borgwardt, Sierra

Borgwardt, Lemlem Brook, Loza Brook, Christian Canel-

los, Ella Eleopoulos, Mary Fellios, Alex Gallanis, Gregory

Gallanis, Tony Gallanis, Kayla Leventis, Ellie Meck, John

Navrides, Christiana Rigopoulos, Markayla Stroubakis,

Dante Thurkill, Kristina Thurkill, Frank Yokas and Penny

Yokas.

Thank you also to the parents and chaperones who

brought the kids and helped out in many ways.

Many thanks also to the Sts. Constantine and Helen

parish for the great hospitality, and especially to Connie

Fellios, Peter Fellios and Linda Kounelis for always being

there to help us and oversee the youth activities. Also, sincere

thanks to Fr. Theofanis Degaitas, Conference Chairwoman

Carol Pekras and

her amazing com-

mittee members.

Addition-

ally, thank you to

Anna Counelis and

Elsa Libowitz for

playing the piano

during our rehears-

als, and also to

Anna for playing

(and wearing her

sailor’s hat) during the banquet performance.

Many thanks to the Federation leadership for giving

me the opportunity to direct, Chris Yokas for the fantastic

organ playing and guidance, and Neal Desby for his wonderful

support and flexibility.

I hope even more youth will step forward next year to

sing praises to our Lord at the Tucson conference!

Eva Canellos

KATHERINE TRAPP YOUTH MUSIC AWARD

This year’s youth music award went to a 16 year old

who is a shining example of a young man immersed in music

at church, school, and community. Christopher Kouldoukis

is a member of Seattle Washington’s Church of the Assump-

tion. He is also

the son of Father

Dean Kouldou-kis. Chris has

participated in

many community

choirs including

Vocal Point Seat-

tle and The

N o r t h w e s t

Choir’s participa-

tion with the Seat-

tle Symphony. A

member of his High School Band, Christopher is the first chair

trumpet player. He has also received voice training, under-

stands music theory and can sight-read music.

Christopher’s music contribution extends into his par-

ish life. He teaches music at vacation bible school and is

“director in training” at his church choir. His Dad, Fr. Dean

states “When Chris realized the Church has a need, and that he

has the ability to fill that need, he stepped up to a position of

leadership to serve the body of Christ.”

Christopher’s contribution to our church music minis-

try is astounding. He is more than worthy of the Katherine

Trapp Youth Music Award. AXIOS!

4

Four successful Church Music Institutes were held on Sat., Oct. 10 in

four regions of the San Francisco Church Music Metropolis. The CMI

in the Northwest was held in

Portland at Holy Trinity and

w a s

led by Mark Powell, one of

the principal singers and ex-

ecutive director of Cappella

Romana. Eighteen singers

from Holy Trinity, St.

John's and St. George's read

through several chants and

polyphonic works for the

Advent and Nativity. The

participants also learned about the chanting of psalm verses with anti-

phons. Deacon David Cole gave an introductory talk with a thorough

exposition of the themes of

the feast.

In Southern Cali-

fornia Kathy Meck led the

CMI in San Bernardinon at

Prophet Elias. Twenty

choir members attended and

read through music for the

Nativity. Kathy also worked

in vocal techniques through-

out the day. Fr. Josiah

Trenham gave a wonderful talk on the feast of the Nativity.

In the Northern California region thirty choir members from

the parishes of San Jose, St. Nicholas, Castro Valley, Resurrection,

Oakland, Ascension, Santa Cruz, Prophet Elias, Sacramento, An-

nunciation and San Francisco, Holy Trinity attended the CMI in

Castro Valley. Tikey Zes opened the morning session with a quiz

on the 6 special hymns for the

Nativity service after which

Fr. Michael Prevas gave a

most interesting talk on the

geneology of Christ. The

group then read through the

special music for the Nativity

service including a variety of

music: simple, complex,

chant, polyphonic in both

Greek and English under

T i k e y ' s d i r e c t i o n .

For the third year in a row the Southwest region CMI was hosted by

the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Scottsdale, Ari-

zona. Thirty singers attended from the following churches in Ari-

zona: St. Katherine, Chandler, St. Haralambos, Peoria, St. De-

metrios, Tuscon, Assumption, Scottsdale and St. George, Pres-

cott. Fr. Andrew Barakos gave an excellent talk on the signifi-

cance of the feast and the liturgy. Yiorgios Vassilondonakis, ac-

complished composer

and musician as well

as choir director of

Ascension Church in

Oakland, California

served as facilitator

and directed the group

in the various hymns

and chants of the Na-

tivity and Advent.

It is a privilege and an honor to serve as chair of the Xenia

Anton Desby Memorial Organ Scholarship Committee. I wish to thank

the members of my committee, Maria Deville and Anita Motolla and I

also thank Anna Counelis who chaired this committee for many years.

This year’s recipients were Kristina Dominque Thurkill

from the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Seattle, Washington.

Kristina applied for the scholarship because she loves music. When she

listens to hymns or sings in church she feels peaceful as though she is

floating in the sky with God. She is involved musically both at her par-

ish and in the extended Seattle community. Her Priest, Father Dean

Kouldukis highly recommended this young lady, eleven years old, who

has expressed interest in working in the music ministry of the Assump-

tion Parish specifically in playing the organ for the parish choir.

Amanda Dina Fields from Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox

Church in Northridge, California stated on her application that when she

was thirteen years old she would watch her church organist play the

organ. Her favorite part of the Divine Liturgy is always when the long

hymns are sung. In receiving the scholarship, two of her favorite things

were combined: Church and playing instruments. Father Haralambos

Fox stated that Amanda is a remarkable self driven young lady. Her

zeal for her faith is what fuels her love for worship.

It is with pride and joy as part of the federation that our committee is

able to award these scholarships to encourage and nurture talent which

seeks to offer glory to our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

5

METROPOLIS OF SAN FRANCISCO 2010 CHURCH MUSIC CONFERENCE June 17-20, 2010

St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church

Tucson, Arizona

“Sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing His praise from the ends of the earth!” Dear Fellow Church Musicians,

It is with hearts full of joy and love that we make preparations to host the 2010 Conference of The Church Music Federation of the

Metropolis of San Francisco. Some of you may recall the first conference we hosted in 1993. We look forward to this second opportunity to

extend our hospitality to our fellow church musicians as we join together to sing praises to God. As with our previous conference our entire

community is committed to making this a memorable experience. We look forward to seeing you in Tucson, June 17-20, 2010.

XENIA ANTON DESBY MEMORIAL ORGAN SCHOLARSHIP By Christopher Yokas

CHURCH MUSIC INSTITUTES HELD THROUGHOUT METROPOLIS

San Bernardino

Scottsdale

Portland

Castro Valley

COMPOSER’S CORNER

By Steve Cardiasmenos

The Infamous Blank Page...

Anyone who has sat down to

create something, whether it be as an author, artist, or musician, has met up with the infamous "blank

page". The "blank page" for some artists is viewed as a stum-bling block and for a few... an immov-

able object. Depending on the scope of the art you are trying to create and

the time constraints you are under to complete the work, that blank page

for some artists can either turn into

your dearest friend or a foe to be reckoned with. For me, the blank

page has always served as a positive challenge and in a very special way, a blessing. You have to

have an optimistic perspective for life, no matter what you set out to accomplish, because life is full of blank pages, whether

you work as a carpenter, pastry chef, teacher or any multitude of other vocations. Sometimes the blank pages fill up quickly

and other times, it takes a little longer for it all to "ferment".

For those of you who know of my work "Lord I Cry", that was a blank page that filled basically with no revisions in a 36-hour

period of time. I'm here to tell you, it doesn't always happen that way, but there have been many golden moments along my

personal journey when the page filled as if by divine guidance. I could go on to try and justify somehow that we create based

solely on our talents, experience and skills and that it's all about

us, but it's absolutely not. God has everything to do with who we are and what we do, and I have no silly delusions that

somehow I'm able to create anything by myself. God gave us all many talents and he guides us in our daily journeys to use

those talents to help others in many ways. When you come to recognize that fact, everything makes sense. The blank page

can be a window to God, in a way. As I get back to filling up the last few blank pages of a new Cherubic Hymn in English

that I'm currently working on, I send you all this wish: May

you fill up all your blank pages with ease, with the loving guid-ance that only God can give us all.

6

FORMER ORGAN SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT UNSTOPPABLE

Congratulations to Christopher Vezzuto, organist for the parish of St. Katherine in Redondo Beach, California. Chris will be graduating

as Valedictorian of the Class of 2009 at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California. Chris has been accepted at the Univer-

sity of Southern California (USC), where he will pursue a double major in engineering and pipe organ performance. Chris recently audi-

tioned for Professor Ladd Thomas, USC department chair of organ studies, and will also be studying with world renowned organist Jelil

Romano. Chris was awarded the Church Music Federation’s XADMOS organ scholarship in 2003 and 2005, which sparked his interest

in organ performance. Chris accompanies the St. Katherine choir for Sunday Divine Liturgy, plays for weddings, serves in the altar, and

participates in a number of church organizations and activities.

EIGHTY EIGHT AND STILL BELTING THEM OUT

In front of an audience of 40,000 baseball fans at

AT& T Park in San Francisco this past summer,

eighty-eight year old phenomenal bass singer,

Gregory Pantages Sr. sang “Take Me Out to the

Ball Game” and “America The Beautiful”. Greg

has been a member of the Annunciation Choir in

San Francisco for many years. Keep up the good

work, Greg!

LISTSERV

New this fall is the use of the Greek Orthodox Archdio-

cese ListServ facility. A new list SFCHURCHMU-

SIC@listserv.goarch.org has been established for our use. At this

time it has been set up as one-way communication to send an-

nouncements to our list of church musicians. It has been loaded

with the 536 e-mail addresses in the CMF database. You can find

the list at: http://listserv.goarch.org/scripts/wa.exe?HOME under

Online Mailing List Archives. You can join the list using your

name and e-mail address. A confirmation will be sent to the e-mail

address. Once you click on the link in the e-mail, you will open a web page confirming that you have joined successfully or that you

are already subscribed under that e-mail address with the name

“Fname Lname”. If you receive mail from the Listserv and do not

want it, you can unsubscribe by going to the same web page.

OUTREACH BROCHURE

In 2009 I revised the Church Music Federation brochure

created by Kristen Bruskas for use in outreach to parishes that do

not actively participate. A PDF file of this brochure is available for

your use upon request. It should also be available as a download

from the CMF web site.If you have any really good photos from the 2009 Summer Conference similar to those seen in the brochure

I would love to hear from you so that they can be included in the

next update.

ATHENA TSOUGARAKIS HONORED

At the Spirit of Stewardship dinner held on the occa-

sion of the Feast Day of Saint Gerasimos

and to celebrate the Name Day of His

Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos in

San Jose California on October 10,

Athena Tsougarakis was one of the

faithful stewards honored. She was

given the honor in recognition of her ser-

vice to the ministry of the Church Mu-

sic Federation as well as her service to

her choir and parish. This award is given to worthy recipients in

honor of their hard work and dedication to their parish or the

ministry of the Metropolis.

Athena held the position of choir director at Annuncia-

tion Cathedral in San Francisco for many years. She was very

active in the Church Music Federation traveling to attend all

meetings and was the calming “sage” at many federation meet-

ings through the years. She also has worked quietly behind the

scenes in getting this newsletter to you for many, many years,

putting in countless hours for each edition. She formatted the

layout right from the beginning. In 1982, Athena co-chaired the

very successful Clergy-Laity Congress held in San Francisco.

Congratulations Athena!

ANNUAL DUES AND STEWARDSHIP REQUEST MAILINGS

By Mario DiGiovanni, Chairman

Greetings to my fellow church musicians! By now your parish priest and

director will have received the 2009-2010 fiscal year parish dues request. As

in the past several years this remains $75 per parish adult music program

and $35 per parish youth music program. Your choir director or, in some

cases you yourself, should have recently received the 2009-2010 Steward-

ship request. You may have noticed an increase in the minimum requested

stewardship from $15 per musician to $25. We understand that those on

fixed income may find it difficult to give more. We only ask that those who

can give more support the increase and support our shared ministry.

In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, parish music program dues brought

in $3,265 in income to the Federation for 37 adult programs and 14 youth

programs. Stewardship in 2008-2009 resulted in $7,900 in additional in-

come from 345 stewards.

At the Summer 2009 Business meeting the assembly voted to ap-

prove an increase in the requested minimum stewardship from $15 per musi-

cian to $25. This is the first increase in 6 years. Why the increase when our

annual income seemed adequate to support current programs? True, we have

been able to make ends meet (averaging the ups and downs in expenses and

income) over the last few years but not much more. Over that time while

inflation has gone up 2.5% per year, combined dues and stewardship have

decreased 2% per year, so Federation annual income has, in effect, dropped

by approximately 20% in real terms.

The principal reason for requesting increased stewardship is that

there are other needs that your Executive Board has recognized for some

years but has not had the resources to support. The Federation General As-

sembly voted last year to establish a paid position of Metropolis Youth Mu-

sic Minister. This position (once filled) would offer youth choir develop-

ment training to interested parishes in each region of the Metropolis. This

would require more extensive travel than any other current Federation posi-

tion and we would expect (at a minimum) to reimburse those travel costs.

The San Francisco Metropolis is large. Reimbursement of air travel, hotel

costs (where parish hosted lodging is not available), meals, and auto rental

will be an expense we cannot maintain indefinitely with our current fi-

nances.

Every two years our Federation is expected to send delegates to

the Clergy Laity Congress and annually to National Forum meetings. We

have elected not to attend National Forum meetings in alternate years simply

to save the expense. Currently we pay travel expenses for the President or

designated alternate but for no others. If we have some funds left from those

allotted we do provide some minor subsidy to the additional delegates. The

Board feels that those delegates attending these meetings on behalf of the

Federation should rightly have their expenses paid as well. There simply

have not been resources to do so.

In summary, our actions have been self-limited by our annual

resources. The Board has tabled several worthwhile programs for lack of

ongoing funding. We believe that with your help- in fact, ONLY with your

help- these worthwhile efforts can be reviewed and the most promising put

into action.

CONTACT INFORMATION UPDATE

This year, as part of the Stewardship request sent to each choir director,

I sent out a roster of all the individuals identified in the CMF database as

from your parish. This includes those who have passed on (Deceased),

active Adult and Youth musicians, Sunday School (SS) director, Chanters

and Clergy (P). Also included are those for whom the US Postal service has

indicated their address is Incorrect or Incomplete as shown or not valid.

These last I X off the mailing list. Your aid is essential in keeping your con-

tact information up to date so that we can mail you the InChoirer Newsletter,

CMI, Business Meeting and Conference information. Please send any cor-

rections by mail to

US Mail E-mail

Mario DiGiovanni mnkdigi@comcast.net

CMF Membership

15 Stark Knoll PL

Oakland, CA 94618

7

1. What influenced your decision to come to Conference

Location (64)

Fellowship (51)

Guest Conductor (50)

Selected Music (41)

2. Areas you would like to see conference held in future

#1 Southern California

#2 and #3 Northern California

#4 Southwest

#5 Other which included 14 requests for Hawaii; 2 requests

for Alaska; a cruise; regional Churches; Greece and Denver

Metropolis

3. How would you feel if Adult choir, Youth choir, chanters and

congregation sang appropriate portions of Divine Liturgy?

Yes (33)

No (28)

Yes, but.. (11)

No comment (7)

4. Would you willing to seek office or be appointed as Chairman

of a committee?

No (45)

Yes (22)

No vote (22)

5. What did you enjoy most about the conference?

a. Director

b. Fellowship

c. Hospitality of host parish

d. Music/singing

e. Food

f. Midway/organization

6. Suggestions to improve next years conference.

Music available well in advance

Almost all comments were how great the conference was

rather than improvement.

7. During the conference you participated as?

Adult

Soprano (38)

Alto (23)

Tenor (5)

Bass (14)

Blank (14)

Youth (0)

Chant group (2)

Parent/chaperone (0)

Non-responsive (4)

8. Additional comments

Majority comments were how great a conference it was.

REPORT ON 2009 CONFERENCE SURVEYS

Following is a compilation of the conference surveys.

The list speaks for itself.

Annunciation Sacramento, California

Twenty-three Sacramento Annunciation choir members

and three spouses were in attendance at the 2009 Annual Summer

Conference in Cardiff By The Sea to celebrate the Desby liturgy.

Sacramento was especially honored that our choir member Bessie

Pothos was honored with the George N. George Award for the

past 31 years of dedicated service to the choir. Bessie is a lead

second soprano who chairs the finance and ticket sales for the

choir’s Crab Feed Fundraiser. Bessie is also active in the senior

league, Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute and an officer of

the Ladies Philoptochos Society. Congratulations to Bessie Pot-

hos!

On a sad note, the choir lost a long-serving pianist and

accompanist for Annunciation’s concerts and rehearsals, Carl K.

Naluai, Jr., who passed away on July 8, 2009. He was a dedicated

friend to the Annunciation choir and will be dearly missed.

The choir plans on working hard this year as always to

sing every liturgy and plan a Christmas concert. We are also

working on a youth choir to have our children learn the hymns and

responses and participate in the Christmas concert with the adult

choir.

The new liturgical year is starting off with a bang! The

choir sang at its annual food festival and charmed the crowd with

folk songs. Bill Bobolis, our director, started the choir off with

Miserlou, creating excitement in the crowd. John Pappachristos

of Stockton accompanied the choir on the guitar. It was a great

way to celebrate the festival and begin the year.

Annunciation Cathedral

San Francisco, California

We welcome to our community, Deacon Nicholas Bek-

ris, a recent graduate of the Holy Cross School of Theology. We

also welcome his wife, Stella, who has joined our choir as a so-

prano.

Sadly, one of our choir members, Perri Nager, lost her

husband, Steve, who had been ill for some time.

Our longtime choir members, Greg and Mary Pantages,

recently became great grandparents. And, if anyone thinks they

are not happy about it, forget it.

Sunday, August 23rd, happened to be the 78th anniver-

sary of Athena Tsougarakis' baptism at the Cathedral - which in

those days was named St. Sophia. Word got around, and a few of

our old-time choir members, who have moved out of town, showed

up and joined the choir, which Athena directed that day. She of-

fers thanks to everyone who was there. It was a great experience,

and brought back a lot of wonderful memories.

Ascension Cathedral

Oakland, California

Early 2009 saw several events: On January 11th choir

members from several other Bay Area parishes came to Oakland to

join in singing a hierarchical liturgy in celebration of the retire-

ment of our proistamenos of 37 years, Fr. Tom Paris, in his final

Sunday Liturgy as our parish spiritual leader. This mini-conference

event was a challenge to organize but a joy to sing, as 60 singers

made the Oakland cathedral roof’s metal ribs shake with their

powerful sounds of prayer. Metropolitan Nikitas of the Darda-

nelles, head of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute at

the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley became our interim

leader, supporting Fr. Michael Tervo until late summer when we

learned of the selection of our new proistamenos, Fr. Athanasios

“Tom” Zaferes of Syracuse, New York. Our “new” Fr. Tom cele-

brated his first liturgy at Ascension on September 13th. At a recep-

tion later the same day we met Fr. Tom, Presvytera Julie, our

new pastoral assistant Nebojsa Pantic and his wife Stephanie. We

are looking forward to having both Stephanie and Presvytera Julie

singing in the choir.

Assumption

Long Beach, California

Things are really “jumpin” at Assumption Church in Long

Beach. Nick Karidakis recently retired officially on August 15th

after many years on the director’s podium. Because Nick was un-

able to attend the awards banquet at the Cardiff by the Sea Federa-

tion Conference in June, His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos

presented him with the George N. George Award at the luncheon

on August 15th following the Feast of the Dormition of the The-

otokos. Thank you Nick for all those years of dedicated service.

Onward and upward…..Penny Dovalis Benetatos, music

teacher in Orange County has taken on the position of music Di-

rector/organist at Assumption. Just a little information…she has

her Bachelor’s in Music from CSULB and a Master’s in Piano

Performance from USC. Penny has held positions at numerous

colleges and universities in California and is going on her 33rd year

of teaching. She was music director/organist at Assumption

throughout her graduate work as well as music director/organist at

St. John’s in Anaheim. For the last 16 years the Lutherans, Meth-

odists, and Catholics have “borrowed” her! Penny is very happy to

be home again.

The adult choir has gotten off to a big BANG! Penny is

thrilled at their enthusiasm and willingness to learn new music and

has already incorporated other arrangements of the major hymns

into the Divine Liturgy. There are around 20 strong singers up in

the balcony. As with all choral directors, Penny wants more

basses, baritones, and tenors! The junior choir began rehearsals in

early September in order to prepare for a special event/dinner held

at St. John’s in Anaheim titled “Spirit of Stewardship”. Our own

talented president of the choir federation, Mrs. Kathy Meck will

be conducting this choral presentation.

IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR OF MUSIC AT

THE ASSUMPTION

Assumption

Scottsdale, Arizona

Greetings to our church music family from Scottsdale, Arizona!

While it is still quite warm in the desert southwest, my

thoughts start to “cool off” when we begin preparing for our

Christmas Concert scheduled for December 19th. Our theme for

the program this year is “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”. We will feature,

once again, the talents of our youth in both vocal and instrumen-

NEWS FROM THE PEWS

8

tal participation. Our choir continues to incorporate the psalm

verses for the first and second antiphons. This year, Fr. Andrew

decided to add the psalm verses for the major feast days just prior

to the Small Entrance. The congregation has warmly embraced

this addition to the Liturgy. Our choir looks forward to Great Lent

as each Sunday during Lent is hosted by a different Orthodox

church. These Pan Orthodox Vesper services allow everyone to

not only visit different Orthodox churches, but to sing hymns in

one universal language. Pascha always keeps us very busy. This

year, our choir sang “Christos Anesti” in 4 languages: English,

Greek, Romanian, and Russian. Who knows what language I’ll

find for my choir next year!

Since Assumption has no youth choir, Fr. Andrew and I

have encouraged our choir members to be mentors to our young-

sters who are interested in singing with us on Sundays. This has

worked out quite nicely. We have 6 young members from ages 10-

17 that sing with us almost every week. I must say they are quite

good! Our choir was honored when we were asked to host a CMI

this year. We looked forward to all the church musicians who

attended. Hope to see you all at our next summer conference 2010

in Tucson.

By Athena Anastos,

Holy Cross

Belmont, California

Some of our choir members traveled to Holy Trinity

Church in San Francisco recently to sing during Sunday liturgy

with their choir and other visiting choir members. It was great

singing with such a large and talented group! Thanks to Voula

Brown, Fr. Aris Metrakos and the Holy Trinity choir and parish

for hosting us and serving a delicious lunch!

We had a wonderful time at the Cardiff Conference! Huge

thanks to the Sts. Constantine and Helen parish! The hospitality

was amazing; the music was beautiful; and we enjoyed every mo-

ment!

We performed recently at our church’s Belmont Greek Fes-

tival. We sang various hymns in English and Greek, a sampling of

Orthodox music throughout the ages. Also, many of our members

sang Greek folk songs with choir singers from other churches, un-

der the direction of Tikey Zes, Yiorgos Vassilandonakis and Gus

Gundunas.

Congratulations to Steve Cardiasmenos, who received an

ASCAP composition award for the 16th consecutive year. Steve

has completed a new English Cherubic Hymn, which we will re-

hearse soon. Congratulations also to Steve’s son, Andrew, who

received his first ASCAP composition award! Andrew is studying

to become a film composer.

Our church’s beloved chanter, Dimitri Melas, passed away

recently, after serving 44 years at the chanter’s stand. Dimitri was

extremely devoted to the church. May his memory be eternal.

We are also saddened at the passing of Frank Valavanis,

the husband of longtime alto Helen Valavanis. Frank was a lov-

able and cheerful man who worked hard for the church, and we

sure miss him.

We said farewell to two choir members: Irene Iuppa, who

moved to Vermont for a pre-med program, and Yanni Paulus,

who moved to New York for his internship in ophthalmol-

ogy. Congrats to both!

Holy Trinity

San Francisco, California

We hosted a few of our local choirs in September. They joined us

in singing Liturgy and had lunch with us. What a magnificent

sound of praise we produced! We are thrilled to have new mem-

bers join us. In the past few months Al Rangole joined the bass

section and Pons Materum will be the beginning of what has been

an empty tenor section for years. Rebekah Brown promises to be

a fabulous soprano.

Our own Paula Kosturos Tzoumbas has been working with the Sun-

day School and as a result some of the older ones, including Stav-

roula Prokopos, sing with us occasionally. We recently sang at two

weddings, one being the wedding of our new bass, Al.

Holy Trinity

Spokane, Washington

Our choir hosted the choirs of St. John the Baptist Antiochian

Orthodox Church of Post Falls, Idaho, and Christ the Savior An-

tiochian Orthodox Church of Spokane Valley for Divine Liturgy

on the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, August 15, 2009.

Our three parishes were celebrating the feast together for the week-

end with vespers at St. John's followed by a presentation on icons

of the Theotokos by iconographer Eleni Schumacher, liturgy at

Holy Trinity, a picnic on the afternoon of the feast, and vespers at

Christ the Savior later that day. The choir experience was really

exciting and the sound of all the singers was truly wonderful. We

are hoping to make this an annual event.

By Presvytera Irene Supica

St. John the Baptist Las Vegas, Nevada

"Our Golden Heritage", the 50th anniversary of St. John

the Baptist, was celebrated on October 16th, 17th, and

18th. Events began on Friday with lectures by Father John Hon-

dros, architect Chris Kamages, and Bishop Ilia Katre. This was

followed by cocktails and mezethes and a pictorial chronological

history and World Odyssey by our Hellenic Historical Soci-

ety. After Great Vespers on Saturday there was a Greek Village

Feast with dancing. Sunday, following the Hierarchical Divine

Liturgy with Metropolitan Gerasimos, co-celebrants Father

John Hondros, Father Paul Eyler, Father Dean Raptis and Fa-

ther James Adams, there was a champagne brunch.

As a side-note of interest, the first Greek Orthodox

Church in Nevada was established in McGill and it celebrated its

100th annniversary last year. Father James Adams served as its

priest as well as the priest here in Las Vegas. At the present time

Father Paul Eyler, our assistant priest, serves the parishes of

McGill and nearby Ely alternating each month between the two

parishes.

On Church Musicians Sunday our organist, Stella

Bakalas, was honored for the 19 years she has devotedly played

for the Choir of St. John.

Nativity of Christ

Ignacio, California

A new Ecclesiastical year has started and we have a cou-

ple of changes in our choir. Three seniors graduated this year and

have left for college. We are so sad to see them go but happy for

them to continue their education. We did get a new member that

came up from the Sunday School and we are happy about that.

Hopefully we will be able to get a few more.

Nativity is celebrating it's Fortieth Year in October and

we are looking forward to that. Where have the years gone?

9

Prophet Elias Santa Cruz, California

Our a cappella choir from Prophet Elias trekked north to

Castro Valley’s Church of the Resurrection to attend the Church

Music Institute on Saturday, October 10, 2009. With our director

Lara Willingham, members Cinthia Anderson, Stephen Franck

and Shirley Manis shared an inspirational day with choir singers

from around the Metropolis. Gratefully, Stephen’s GPS found our

destination, despite new freeway exit signage and incorrect online

maps.

Father Michael Prevas, parish priest in Castro Valley,

emphasized during his talk about The Nativity that we choir mem-

bers are to sing with joyful hearts to enhance the prayerful experi-

ence of the congregation.

In that spirit, Dr. Tikey Zes introduced our 40-voice en-

semble to ancient and modern Byzantine arrangements of tradi-

tional hymns sung during Advent and for the Nativity. The deli-

cious breakfast and luncheon gave us strength to sight-read

through 50+ pages of music, singing either in unison or four-part

harmony. What an amazing sound we made!

In closing the day’s activities, Lara won the drawing – a

gift card to Starbuck’s! Before saying good-bye, Father Michael

opened the church where we lit candles and spent a meditative

moment.

Our choir enjoyed this special time together. God willing,

we will attend future gatherings for more fellowship with our new

church musician friends.

As the days draw near to the celebration of our Lord’s

birth, we pray you listen for the hymns of the season. We will sing

them with all our hearts!

By Shirley Manis, Roving Reporter

Resurrection

Castro Valley, California

Resurrection Choir may be small in numbers but has very

special people. I would like to tell you about the “oldest” youth

choir member, Stephanie Varvitsiotes. She has sung most of her

life along with her younger sister Nichole. My sister and former

choir director Kathy Trapp of Blessed Memory recruited her and

she became an active participant in the Youth Choir.

Besides being blessed with a lovely voice, Stephanie has

excellent academic abilities also. When she graduated from Monte

Vista High School in 2005, she graduated with high honors. She

went on to the University of Arizona and in 3 ½ years graduated

magna cum laude in December 2008, receiving a Bachelors degree

in Psychology with minors in Business Administration, Family

Studies & Human Development. During her time at U of A, she

was also a Team Leader of the Blue Chip Leadership Program, a

Resident Assistant, Ambassador and Research Assistant in the

Psychology Department. With this busy schedule, Stephanie made

time for her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by attending St. De-

metrios Church in Tucson where she joined their youth FDF cho-

ral group.

This past summer, Stephanie traveled to France, Italy and

Greece. In Greece, she was an Ionian Village staff member, which

enabled her to be a counselor to the many high school students in

attendance. Besides learning about their faith and culture, the

groups traveled throughout Greece and toured magnificent

churches, monasteries and historical sites.

Upon returning to the U.S., Stephanie is now attending

Boston College in Massachusetts. Her goal is to receive her MSW

( Master of Social Work) as her dream is to be a social worker.

As the director of our choir and youth choir, I am truly

proud of this young woman and it has been a true blessing to know

her. Axios!

By Liz Levy

St. Barbara Santa Barbara, California

Super Tenor, Chris Hillman, was featured in the 2009-

2010 Library of Congress Concert Series on Friday, Oct. 16 in

the Mumford Room. Country rock pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall

of Fame member Chris Hillman talked about his four-decade ca-

reer and took a look at his songs covered by such artists as Sheryl

Crow, Tom Petty, EmmyLou Harris and KD Lang." Chris Hill-

man has been a member of The Byrds, The Flying Burrito

Brothers and the Desert Rose Band! For a fascinating look at

his career, visit his website www.chrishillman.com Congratula-

tions, Chris, and thank you for your love and dedication to the

choir and our parish for so many years!

Congratulations to Soprano, Connie X. Rishwain, presi-

dent of Ugg Australia and Simple, who was honored at

a Women's Wear Daily Benefit Luncheon in New York City June

4 for supporting children’s causes. Connie was one of three

Women in Industry to be named Women of the Year for their

contributions to K.I.D.S. Since its inception in 1985, KIDS has

distributed more than $750 million in products to 65 million chil-

dren who could be victims of poverty, abuse, homelessness or

natural disasters and Ugg has helped in the mission. “I want to

thank my mom and dad,” Rishwain said. “They gave me the cul-

ture to always give.” We are so proud of your work and loving

heart, Connie!

Soprano, Sophia Kenrick, who came to Santa Barbara

via Phoenix, to study at UCSB, just completed her PhD in Chemi-

cal engineering. Her dissertation is entitled Development of High-

Affinity, Specific Peptide Ligands for Diagnostics and Therapeu-

tics. (Wow!) This research focuses on developing new peptides

that can be incorporated into drugs that target a particular organ or

disease site, such as a tumor. Congratulations, Sophia. We wish

you success in finding a great job -- in the Santa Barbara area, of

course!

Best wishes for a happy and blessed marriage to tenor

Michael Osborn and his beautiful bride Kara, who were married,

Sept. 19 at St. Barbara. Michael, a civil engineer, is a talented

musician and volunteer quietly leading and making a difference

in our community.

Congratulations also to alto, Eleni Pantages, who was the

Musical Director for this summer's ShowStoppers production of

Les Miserables at La Colina Junior High. Eleni prepared

and directed the wonderful young singers, including her sister

Chrysanthe, who performed in this outstanding production. If you

didn't see it, ask proud dad, Greg who did the photography, fliers,

signs and printing for the show!

Michael and Vivian Pahos celebrated a phenomenal

milestone, their 50th wedding anniversary! Congratulations. We 10

wish you many more years of wedded bliss and new adventures!

Director, Andriana and Ernest were blessed with the

birth Sept. 1, of their second grandchild, Xander Thomas Kolen-

drianos. The happy parents, Chris and Megan and sister Sorel, are

thrilled and grateful for this new addition to their family.

Sadly, we lost our beloved Bass, Dean Jensen, who

passed away unexpectedly this summer. Dean had a heart of gold,

a wonderful singing voice, and a ready smile and big bear hug. We

cherish the gift of his presence in our lives for so many years.

Dean was an amazing Dad, an inspiring teacher, a try anything

cook, and a life long lover of surfing. It was no accident that he

lived close to Rincon, one of the best surf spots in California! His

spirit and memory live on!!

St. Nicholas

San Jose, California

Spring and summer of 2009 were busy times for the St.

Nicholas Choir under the direction of Dr. Tikey Zes. Easter Week

was particularly exhausting for us as the full choir sang for Palm

Sunday as well as Holy Tuesday evening, Great Friday vespers and

Easter Sunday service. The men, in addition, sang the beautiful

chants of Holy Thursday evening. Needless to say, the “post-

Easter squawks” were rampant after all that vocalization!

It seemed we had just recovered from Pascha when it was

on to rehearsing the program for our church festival. Each year the

choir takes part in a presentation designed to acquaint people from

outside the Church with some of the history and beautiful music of

our faith. This year’s program was in early June and was very well

received.

On the last weekend of June, Teddi and Tikey Zes, Kay

Navrides, John Vlahos and Tony Mezilis participated in the Me-

tropolis of San Francisco Chuch Music Federation conference at

Sts. Constantine and Helen in Cardiff by the Sea in California.

All agreed it was a wonderful experience and were especially

thrilled by the evening dinner on the flight deck of the USS Mid-

way.

Some of our members, including Joanna Costouros and

Mina Masters had the opportunity to take a restful vacation in

Greece while Diane Mathios, one of our excellent soprano solo-

ists, sang with the Stanford Summer Chorus. On August 8th, the

Stanford Summer Chorus gave a concert which featured Laurid-

sen’s “Pax Aeterna” performed along with the Stanford Summer

Orchestra. A cappella pieces included Russian choral works by

Rachmaninoff and Sviridov.

Labor Day weekend was another busy time for us. On

September 6th, Wendy Mezilis, John Vlahos and Cathleen Capo-

geannis sang with the Greek Festival Folk Singers for the yearly

festival at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Bel-

mont. The mixed chorus was directed by Tikey Zes and the men’s

chorus by Gus Gundunas. A variety of folk songs and cantades

were presented including the amusingly tongue-twisting

“Tzamaika” in a new arrangement by Dr. Zes. On the afternoon of

Sunday, September 7th, the full choir at St. Nicholas sang at the

large and beautiful wedding of one of our parishioners. Then some

of us leaped into our cars for an early evening repeat performance

at the Belmont Festival, some forty-five minutes away!

Of special note: Nicholas Parsons, son of organist Steve

Parsons and brother of choir member Angelique, performed in the

trumpet section of the Valley Christian High School Jazz Ensem-

ble at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival 2009. The group was

one of the top-placing high school bands in the Next Generation

Jazz Festival held in Monterey earlier this year. Way to go, Nicho-

las!

St. Paul’s Irvine, California

The Choir of St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church has

adopted a new mission statement. The Choir’s new Mission State-

ment says,”To provide a Music Ministry worthy of the worship of

the One, True God, our Lord Jesus Christ and Support the Goals

and Mission of St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in the Commu-

nity and Abroad to the best of our abilities.” We are working hard

to make that a reality.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great

a cloud of witnesses….” (Hebrews 12:1) Work on the “Cloud of

Witnesses” wall is complete. The most necessary painting renova-

tions of the Choir Rehearsal Room have been accomplished and

we have received the icons of Christ, the Theotokos, St. Paul, and

ten saint-hymnographers which will finally give life to the vision.

Additional icons of every size and description, donated by choir

members and others, a reminder to us that we are also part of a

2,000 + year “cloud of witnesses” that worship the One, True God,

will complete the vision.

Please do not forget to check out the choir’s newsletter at

www.stpaulsirvine.org\choir. The newsletter contains a lot of in-

formation including the dates of all scheduled rehearsals.

The Choir of St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church recently

received a new slogan intended to define, in just a few words, what

we are about. The slogan is shown below:

“…not just singers; worshippers who sing.”

11

GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS

OF SAN FRANCISCO

CHURCH MUSIC FEDERATION

2467-16th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94116

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

TIME SENSITIVE

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