The Sixth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music to be held at the University of Eastern Finland in June 2015

January 2015

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The Sixth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, “Creating Liturgically: Hymnography and Music,” will be held at the University of Eastern Finland, in Joensuu, Finland, on 7 – 13 June 2015.

The Conference takes place at the School of Theology at the University of Eastern Finland.

The International Society for Orthodox Church Music is proud to announce the call for papers at this time.

“2015 sees the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music, and the Sixth of its highly successful international conferences,” said Father Ivan Moody, Chair of the Society. “We invite musicians, scholars, performers, writers, hymnographers, and anyone else with an interest in this topic to submit proposals for papers to be presented during the conference.”

The conference theme provides an opportunity for papers on a variety of topics and areas of research or experience:

1. The creation of hymnography. How this has happened historically, and how it happens today. Who are the hymnographers? How are they trained? Who decides when new hymnography is required?
2. The language of hymnography. What are the linguistic and poetic techniques that a hymnographer must master? How have they been deployed historically, and are the challenges the same today? What are the challenges of writing new hymnography in modern languages, and of translating hymnography?
3. The creation of liturgical music. How does the liturgical composer respond to hymnography? What are the challenges of writing music for new liturgical poetry? What are the challenges of simultaneously writing new hymnography and new music?
4. Creating within the liturgy. How can we understand the idea of creation from the point of view of the chanter/singer? How does the singer participate in the creative act liturgically? What of the role of improvisation?
5. Parallels in related liturgical arts, particularly iconography; relationships between hymnography and iconography.

The program also allows for free papers, and welcomes suggestions for panel sessions.

Conference Schedule The Conference will take place at the School of Theology at the University of Eastern Finland. The programme will include a workshop of Byzantine church chant, a concert of Orthodox church music, and an excursion to local Orthodox and Finnish locales.

Sunday 7th June Arrivals

Monday 8th June Opening ceremony 1st Session 2nd Session Vespers Reception

Tuesday 9th June 3rd Session 4th Session 5th Session Workshop – Byzantine Chant

Wednesday 10th June 6th Session 7th Session 8th Session Workshop – Byzantine Chant

Thursday 11th June 9th Session 10th Session 11th Session Workshop – Byzantine Chant

Friday 12th June 12th Session 13th Session (14th Session) Workshop – Byzantine Chant Conclusion of the Conference

Saturday 13th June Excursion Vigil

Sunday 14th June Divine Liturgy Departures

Registration On-line registration is available here. The registration deadline will be 15 February 2015.

It is also possible to sign up by e-mail: Fr Ivan Moody (ivanmoody@gmail.com) or Maria Takala-Roszczenko (takalam@gmail.com). Registration payment must also be made by 15 February 2015.

Submitting a paper Papers should be no longer than 20 minutes (thus allowing discussion time of 10 minutes) in duration and will be published as the Proceedings of the Conference. It is expected that all participants will submit their papers with any necessary corrections and alterations in time for publication. A short abstract of the paper should be sent to the Secretary (takalam@gmail.com) by 3 January 2015.

The language of the conference will be English.

Translation into English will be provided for papers presented in Russian or Greek. The non-English papers should be delivered to the organizers by the end of April 2015 for translation.

Workshop The Conference will include a masterclass of Byzantine chant. It is open to conference participants and those who would like to register for the event.

Participation Fee The participation fee for the Conference has different categories:

Full package: includes the programme, workshop, meals, accommodation, receptions, excursion: Registered members of the ISOCM – 200 € Non-members of the ISOCM – 350 €

Partial package: includes the programme, workshop, receptions, excursion, but no accommodation or meals: Registered members of the ISOCM – 50 € Non-members of the ISOCM – 75 €

Discounts will be available for low budget/student participants. Further information is available from the organizers.

Additional information For more information, contact:

Fr Ivan Moody, ISOCM Board Chair: (ivanmoody@gmail.com) Maria Takala-Roszczenko, ISOCM Secretary: (takalam@gmail.com)

The web page of the School of Theology at the University of Eastern Finland is available at: http://www.uef.fi/filtdk/teologian-osasto

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