Join master practitioners from the ancient Syriac and Armenian traditions this May at St. Vladimir’s and St. Nersess seminaries, as we explore commonalities and differences in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox approaches to sung worship.

Workshops and discussions will take place Friday, May 1, at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Yonkers, NY, and Saturday, May 2, at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in Armonk, NY. Dr. Gabriel Aydin and Dr. Haig Utidjian will present, respectively, on “Syriac Liturgical Chant: History, Theology, and Tonal Tradition” and “Armenian Liturgical Chant: History and Theology.” A full schedule is included below.

The sessions are free and open to the public. Join in person or online.

Register to Attend

The joint, two-day event is being facilitated by the Institute of Sacred Arts at St. Vladimir’s Seminary and made possible through a generous grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), Grand Rapids, MI, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Dr. Alexander Lingas, Professor of Music and Associate Director of the Institute, is overseeing the workshops and discussions.
 

Event Schedule

Friday, May 1 | St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

1:30 PM — Welcome and Opening Remarks

1:40 PM — Dr. Gabriel Aydin, Session 1: “The Structure, Theology, and Liturgical Function of Syriac Chant”

3:00 PM — Break

3:20–4:50 PM — Dr. Gabriel Aydin, Session 2

5:00 PM — Dinner Break

7:00–8:00 PM — Lecture-Recital: Drs. Gabriel Aydin & Haig Utidjian

Dr. Aydin will present selected hymns from the Syriac liturgical tradition drawn from the chant repertory of the Nativity, Holy Week, and Resurrection. The performance of hymns from various liturgical occasions will demonstrate the richness of Syriac modal structures (Qinotho/Qole), the interplay between text and melody, and the predominantly syllabic character of Syriac chant, one of its essential musical features.

Dr. Haig Utidjian will sing excerpts of some of the most poignant hymns drawn from the Offices for Good Friday, demonstrating the considerable modal variety and degree of melismatic elaboration that characterizes some particularly well-loved hymns.

Saturday, May 2 | St. Nersess Armenian Seminary

1:30 PM—Welcome and Opening Remarks

1:35 PM—Dr. Haig Utidjian, Session 3: “Armenian Liturgical Chant: History and Theology”

3:00 PM—Break

3:20–4:50—Dr. Haig Utidjian, Session 4

5:30 PM—Vespers

ABOUT THE LECTURERS

Haig Utidjian, Ph.D., is an orchestral conductor, chorus master, musicologist, and patristics scholar. He has published extensively on the musicology and theology of the Armenian Hymnal and on the works of St. Gregory of Narek. He is a Senior Deacon of the Armenian Orthodox Church, and has been decorated with the Komitas medal by the Armenian state, the Yakob Mełapart medal of the National Library of Armenia, and the Medal of Merit of the Pan-Armenian Cultural Union. His publications include the volumes They Who Imbibed the Effusions of the Spirit: The Art of the Armenian Book through the Ages (2016), Treasures of the Earliest Christian Nation: Spirituality, Art, and Music in Mediaeval Armenian Manuscripts (2018), Tntesean and the Music of the Armenian Hymnal (2018), and a critical edition of Dvořák’s Mass in D (2020). He has been invited to deliver the 2026 Zernov Lecture at Oxford.

Gabriel Aydin, Ph.D., is a musicologist, author, and composer specializing in ancient Syriac liturgical chant and the musical traditions of the Christian Middle East. Born and raised in Tur Abdin (southeastern Turkey), he received early formation in the chant and liturgical tradition of the Syriac Orthodox Church. He holds a doctorate in Musicology from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Lebanon, and an M.A. in Art and Religion from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School. Dr. Aydin is the founder and director of the Syriac Music Institute in the United States, and he is the author of Syriac Hymnal According to the Rite of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (2018), Syriac Sacred Music: The Catalog of Chants According to the Edessan School of Music and Demonstration of Arabic Music Scales Recorded by Ivar Schmutz-Schwaller (2008), and Syriac Music for Syriac Elementary and Middle Schools (2003).