On December 20th, in the Cathedral of the “Evangelization of the Theotokos” in Tirana, the “Saint Joan Kukuzeli”, Byzantine Choir of the Albanian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, with the blessing and support of His Beatitude, Archbishop Anastasios, performed hymns and psalms for Christmas. The concert was entitled, “Christ is Born”, and filled with beautiful Byzantine music, the music of angels, the music of Saint John Kukuzeli and Krisanth, the former Metropolitan of Durrës, the music of the Christian civilization, the music that unites earth with heaven, the music that was exactly cultivated in the Church. Hundreds of believers, pupils and students, who came from various cities of Albania, took part in this long awaited event. The repertoire included eight musical selections, created by composers of the Byzantine period, and post-Byzantine up to those of the 20th century, and were presented to the believers for nearly 60 minutes. The specificity of these musical pieces consisted in the fact that the selections were brought for the first time to Albanian and were performed within the authentic style of Byzantine psaltic
Under the professional guidance of Mr.Theodhor Peci, the concert was presented with dignity and had a positive public appeal which clearly reflects the promising future of this music in our country. The concert revealed the continuation of a serious work in accordance with the norms and scientific Byzantine studies of this music and the wonderful Albanian language used in these hymns. The Choir was founded by Archimandrite Justin Anthimiadhi and the activities of this Choir are not focused only on the realization of religious services, but also in concerts and performances throughout the country. According to the organizers of the concert, the choir has recorded seven tapes and CDs with various hymns and different religious services. At the end of the concert, Archbishop Anastasios also spoke and expressed his enthusiasm for the excellent work of the Byzantine Choir, promising that soon, the Church has plans for the creation of a special school for learning Byzantine music.
Isidor Koti
Translated by Ana Meni
Edited by Anastasia Pamela Barksdale, M.Div.
