The 7th Edition of “Praise the Lord” Contest of Church Music

Church of Romania – October 2014

Monday, 27 October 2014, the final of the 7^th edition of the Contest of church music entitled “Praise the Lord’ was held in the Radio Hall of Bucharest, in the presence of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania. The grand prix was won by “Anastasios” psalmic group of “Saint Elijah” parish – Rahova (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Muntenia and Dobrudgea).

The National Contest of Church Music entitled “Praise the Lord’ – the 7^th edition 2014, was organised with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel and approval of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, by the Theological – Educational Department in partnership with the Romanian Radio Society, from 1 July – 27 October 2014. The contest was held in two sections: performance and musical composition.

Six pslamic groups competed at Performance section representing the six metropolitanates of the country: on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Muntenia and Dobrudgea – “Anastasis” Pslamic Group of “Saint Elijah” parish; on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Moldova and Bucovina – “Nektarios” psalmic chorus of “Saint Nectarie” parish of Iasi; on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Transylvania – “Anastasios” pslamic group of the “Birth of Saint John the Baptist” of Targu Mures; on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Cluj, Maramures and Salaj – vocal group of “Saint Bartolomeu the Apostle” of the parish of the “Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Saint Bartolomeu the Apostle” parish of Cluj Napoca; on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Oltenia – “Three Saints Hierarchs” of Postelnicu Fir parish of Craiova; and on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Banat – the psalmic group of “Saint John Damaschin” of the parish of Timisoara – Cetate.

Actress Maria Ploae performed two recitals of religious poems within the framework of the event.

To end with, Radio Academic Chorus conducted by Dan Mihai Goia performed a short recital of choral ecclesiastic music.

Prize award ceremony of the winners of Musical Composition Section

Then, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church awarded prizes to the winners of the contest of church music entitled “Praise the Lord”, section B – Musical composition. Prize I was awarded to Mr Cocuz Florin-Cezar (Monastery of “Three Saints Hierarchs” – Iasi, church singer); 2^nd prize was awarded to Mr Cernatescu Catalin (Diocese of Severin and Strehaia, news editor); 3^rd prize was awarded to Archdeacon Olarean Adrian (Diocese of Severin and Strehaia, eparchial inspector), and the mention was awarded to Mr Lasculescu Ionut Bogdan (Diocese of Severin and Strehaia, religious cults inspector).

The competitors composed in Byzantine style (psalter noting) the music for the Maundy Thursday (for the text “Receive me today, Son of God, as a partaker of Your Mystical Supper. I will not reveal Your mystery to Your adversaries. Nor will I give You a kiss as did Judas. But as the thief I confess to You: Lord, remember me in Your Kingdom. Halleluiah. Halleluiah. Halleluiah.); the compositions are entitled “Cherubikon on Maundy Thursday”. The composers sent the enrolling form and the score in 4 copies to the address of the Theological Educational Department till 1 October 2014.

Meeting of the Section B jury – musical composition took place Tuesday, 7 October 2014, at the cultural – social centre of “Saint Nectarie from Egyna” of Radu Voda Monastery of Bucharest. 14 works have been estimated by composers of psalmic music within the Romanian Patriarchate, entitled “Cherubikon on Maundy Thursday”.

The jury was made up of His Grace Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch – President of Honour archdeacon univ. prof. dr. Sebastian Barbu-Bucur, from the Faculty of Composition, Musicology and Musical Pedagogy within the National University of Bucharest, member of the Composers and Musicologists’ Union of Romania (UCMR) in Romanian) conductor, musicologist and composer; Mr. Univ. Lecturer. Dr. Nicolae Gheorghita, from the Faculty of Composition, Musicology and Musical Pedagogy within the National University of Music of Bucharest, member of the UCMR, conductor and musicologist; rev univ. Lecturer dr. Stelian Ionascu, from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of “Patriarch Justinian” within the University of Bucharest, conductor; Mr Univ. Lecturer Dr Nicolae Gheorghita, from the Faculty of Composition, Musicology and Musical Pedagogy within the National University of Music of Bucharest, member of the UCMR. Conductor and musicologist; Rev Univ. Lecturer dr Stelian IOnascu, from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of “Patriarch Justinian” within the framework of the University of Bucharest, conductor.

Prize award ceremony of the winners of the Performance Section

Then, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania awarded the prizes of the winning choruses. Four Prizes II were awarded, Prize I and the Grand Prix, as follows:

Grand Prix: “Anastasis” psalmic group of “Saint Elijah”parish – Rahova (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Muntenia and Dobrudgea).

Prize I: “Three Saints Hierarchs” of Postelnicu Fir parish of Craiova (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Oltenia)

Prize II: “Nektarios” Psalmic chorus of “Saint Nectarie” parish of Iasi (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Moldova and Bucovina).

2^nd Prize II: Psalmic group of “Saint John Damaschin” of the parish of Timisoara – Cetate (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Banat)

3^rd Prize II: “Anastasios” psalmic group of the parish of “Birth of Saint John the Baptist” of Targu Mures (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Transylvania)

4^th Prize II: vocal group of “Saint Bartolomeu the Apostle” of the parish of the “Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Saint Bartolomeu the Apostle” from Cluj-Napoca (on behalf of the Metropolitanate of Cluj, Maramures and Salaj)

Section A Jury – Performance – was made up of: His Grace Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch – president of honour; Archdeacon Univ lecturer Dr Gabriel Constantin Oprea, from the Faculty of Composition, Musicology and Musical Pedagogy within the National University of Music of Bucharest, conductor; Mrs Univ Lecturer Dr Irina Zamfira Danila, from the Faculty of Interpretation, Composition and Musical Theoretical Studies within “George Enescu” University of Arts of Iasi, musicologist and conductor; Rev Univ. Dr Vasile Grajdan, from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of “Andrei Saguna” within the University of “Lucian Blaga” of Sibiu, member of the UCMR, conductor, composer and musicologist; Mrs Univ Dr Elena Chircev, dean of the Theoretical Faculty within the “Gheorghe Dima” Academy of Music of Cluj-Napoca, member of the UCMR, Byzantinologist musicologist; archdeacon Univ Lecturer Adrian Cristian Mazilita, from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology within the University of Craiova, administrative counsellor within the Diocese of Severin and Strehaia, conductor and composer; Deacon Univ. Lecturer dr. Ion Ardereanu, from the Faculty of Music and Theatre within the University of the West of Timisoara, conductor.

The best conductor was also awarded in the person of Mr Prof. Victor Sapca, choral conductor of the “Three Saints Hierarchs” of Postelnicu Fir parish of Craiova. He was awarded by the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Mr. Dan Mihai Goia, conductor of the Radio Academic Chorus was also awarded the Order of the “Brancovean Saints Martyrs” on behalf of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.

To end with, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church addressed a blessing speech to all those present.

Members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, representatives of the state institutions, people of culture attended the event.

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