With enthusiastic voices and joyful hearts, the Orthodox Christian Choral Fellowship (OCCF) welcomed singers from throughout the Greek Orthodox Metropolis San Francisco and across the Archdiocese to participate in a new virtual choir video of “Christ Is Risen”. The final recording was released on social media on Pascha, Easter Sunday, May 2, 2021.
The virtual choir participants hailed from 16 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. OCCF even reached the United Kingdom, with one participant from the beautiful countryside of Ireland.
The Pan-Orthodox project was formed to give parishioners an opportunity to rehearse and sing together over the internet after more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions that left many of them isolated from their friends and fellow parishioners.
“We all miss singing together in church, so this was a way for us to be together and spread the news of Christ’s resurrection through song,” said the arranger of the hymn, Rev. Michael Pallad of St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church in Peoria, Arizona.
“We had four online rehearsals, and it was refreshing to see people reconnect with their musical family after so many months,” Pallad said, “and we also got to meet many wonderful people for the first time.”
“I can’t thank the participants enough. They learned the music and made their recordings, and now we have this beautiful virtual choir that I think everyone is going to enjoy as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection,” he said.
The rehearsals were led by Mareena Boosamra Ball of Tucson, AZ; Kristen Bruskas of Phoenix, AZ; Neal Desby of Los Angeles, CA; and Sarah Gyurkovitz of Camarillo, CA.
The hymn begins with a serene setting of the Funeral Kontakion “Among Your Saints”, and then brilliantly weaves together the well-known melodies of “Christ is Risen” from both the Greek/Byzantine and Russian/Slavonic traditions in a triumphal proclamation of the Lord’s Resurrection.
The project received financial support from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Church Music Federation Ministry, and numerous individual donors.
“The tremendous generosity of the Metropolis, the Music Federation Ministry, and the individuals allowed many to participate,” Pallad said. “We’re grateful for their support to help offset the production costs.”
Orthodox Christian Choral Fellowship (OCCF), is a nonprofit organization based in Phoenix, AZ, that is dedicated to spreading fellowship through choral singing. OCCF has organized several in-person choral fellowship events, but turned to the virtual choir format due to the pandemic.
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