Cappella Romana is a

vocal ensemble A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

founded in 1991 in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Its name, meaning "Roman Chapel", refers to the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Greek concept of the Roman

oikoumene In ancient Greece, the term ''oecumene'' (British English, UK) or ''ecumene'' (American English, US; ) denoted the known, inhabited, or habitable world. In classical antiquity, Greek antiquity, it referred to the portions of the world known to li ...

(inhabited world), which embraced

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and Western Europe, as well as the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

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("New Rome") and its Slavic commonwealth centered at

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. It has become especially known for its exploration of

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

vocal music. It has collaborated with notable museum exhibitions at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York and the

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. The ensemble's 2002 performance of Ivan Moody's ''Passion and Resurrection'' was acclaimed by ''

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'' music critic Chris Pasles as "sung gorgeously" and "like jeweled light flooding the space". In 2010 it became a participant in the research project 'Icons of Sound: Aesthetics and Acoustics of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul', a collaboration between Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and Department of Art & Art History. Cappella Romana completed a residency at Stanford again in 2013, which included further experiments with CCRMA, lecture demonstrations, and a live performance in Stanford's new Bing Hall, featuring a medieval Byzantine chant sung in the virtual acoustic of

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

before a sold-out audience. For their 2019 album of music in the medieval Byzantine tradition, ''Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia'', advanced digital sound-sampling techniques were employed to capture the acoustics of the immense

. The ensemble's singing of Byzantine chants thus recreates the ambiance as the music would have been heard there a millennium ago. ''

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'' said the album "... brings to life the stately mystery of Byzantine cathedral liturgy, bathed in the glittering acoustics of the space for which it was written — even though it was recorded in a studio in California". The ensemble is directed by Alexander Lingas, a musicologist of

Byzantine music Byzantine music () originally consisted of the songs and hymns composed for the courtly and religious ceremonial of the Byzantine Empire and continued, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in the traditions of the sung Byzantine chant of East ...

City University, London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" and ...

. Guest artists with similar interests regularly appear with the ensemble, including Ioannis Arvanitis, Stelios Kontakiotis,

Ivan Moody Ivan L. Moody (born Ivan Lewis Greening on January 7, 1980) is an American singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP). He performed for several other bands including Motograter and Gho ...

, and Vladimir Morosan. ''Passion Week'',

Maximilian Steinberg Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (; – 6 December 1946) was a Russian composer of classical music. Though once considered the hope of Russian music, Steinberg is far less well known today than his mentor (and father-in-law) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsa ...

's 1923 choral work based on

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

liturgical texts for Holy Week in

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...

, was given its world premiere in 2014 by Cappella Romana in Portland, Oregon. In preparation for the premiere, Cappella Romana's music director, Alexander Lingas, had traveled to St. Petersburg in order to examine Steinberg's manuscripts. His research resulted in a new edition of the previously lost work, published by Musica Russica. This edition was also used for the first ever recording of the work by Cappella Romana and in performances of the work by other choirs throughout the world.

Discography

* 2019 — ''Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia'' * 2015 — ''Cyprus. Between Greek East and Latin West'' * 2012 — ''Angelic Light: Music from Eastern Cathedrals'' (

Valley Entertainment Valley Entertainment is an American independent record label and music distributor based in New York City, United States. The company was founded in 1994 by Barney Cohen and Jon Birge. In 2001, it acquired the prestigious back catalogue of space, ...

) * 2011 — ''Mt. Sinai: Frontier of Byzantium'' * 2011 — ''Choral Settings of Kassiani'' * 2009 — ''Peter Michaelides: The Divine Liturgy'' * 2009 — ''Byzantium in Rome: Medieval Byzantine Chant from Grottaferrata'' * 2009 — ''Byzantium: 330-1453'' (

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

) * 2008 — ''Kontakion on the Nativity of Christ'' * 2008 — ''The Divine Liturgy in English in Byzantine Chant'' * 2006 — ''The Fall of Constantinople'' * 2005 — ''Epiphany: Medieval Byzantine Chant'' * 2005 — ''Lay Aside All Earthly Cares: Orthodox Choral Works in English'' * 2004 — ''Music of Byzantium'' (

) * 2003 — ''The Akáthistos Hymn by Ivan Moody'' * 2000 — ''When Augustus Reigned: Christmas Music from the Byzantine Tradition'' * 2000 — ''Tikey Zes Choral Works''

References

External links

Cappella Romana homepage
{{Authority control Performers of Byzantine music Choirs in Oregon Byzantine music Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Oregon

Discography

See also

References

External links