Last spring area residents were treated to a concert of Eastern Slavic music performed by a stellar group of singers known as the Westminster Slavic Choir. If you would like to re-experience that uplifting afternoon or hear the Choir for the first time, a professionally produced DVD and CD are now available. CD’s are $15 and DVD’s are $20. See ordering details below.
The concert was performed by the Westminster Slavic Choir in April at St. John The Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, Pottstown, Pa. The well-attended, acclaimed performance included works by composers Bortniansky, Vedel, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Hurko, as well as traditional chant. Selections were performed in English as well as Old Slavonic.
The Westminster Slavic Choir features students of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J. The vocalists all are either vocal performance or music education majors at Westminster, a division of Westminster College of the Arts, a residential college of music located in Princeton, N.J. Westminster is a four-year music college and graduate school that prepares men and women for careers as professional performers and as music leaders in schools, universities, churches, and professional and community music organizations. As Westminster Choir College students, the talented young men and women of the Slavic Choir join their peers in performing with the world’s leading orchestras in venues ranging from the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York.
The chamber choir is directed by Andrew Skitko, a native of Pottstown, Pa. Andrew has begun his master’s degree in vocal performance at Westminster this fall. Andrew also serves as the cantor and music director at The Assumption of The Virgin Mary Byzantine Catholic Church of Trenton, N.J. (Very Rev. Gregory Noga, pastor),where the Westminster Slavic Choir performs about once a month. Andrew also assists at St. John’s in Pottstown, his home parish and where he first began cantoring (Fr. Nicholas DeProspero, pastor). Recently Andrew participated in a seminar focusing on the interpretation of Slavic church music at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary with leading expert Vladimir Gorbik, choral director at the Moscow Representation Church of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, and Artistic Director and Conductor of the professional men’s chorus formed at the Metochion in Moscow, Russia.
To obtain a copy of the DVD and/or CD, please email Andrew at andrewskitko@gmail.com or write to him at 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540, and include your preference and quantity as well as your mailing address. CD’s are $15 and DVD’s are $20. A 2 CD set of Resurrection Matins & Divine Liturgy is available for $20. The choir is also available for concert and liturgical performance – contact Mr. Skitko for booking information.
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