A TIME FOR LIFE Now in Rehearsal

A TIME for LIFE: Music for the Environment

Cappella Romana is in residence this week working on Robert Kyr's innovative new work on the theme of living in harmony with nature, "A TIME FOR LIFE." (Click here for a sound sample of music by Robert Kyr).

Artistic Director Alexander Lingas is shown above, conducting, with composer Robert Kyr at the keyboard, rehearsing at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Portland on Saturday, October 27, 2007.

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"A TIME FOR LIFE" features impressive full-voiced acclamations by all eight singers, contrasted with intimate solos, insistent duets and pensive trios sung by members of Cappella Romana and accompanied by two vielles and viola da gamba, played by Medieval Strings (Margriet Tindemans, director).

Shown to the right is Robert Kyr working with Cappella Romana singer Stephanie Kramer.

Kyr’s work is inspired by the Greek Orthodox Service for the Environment from Mt. Athos and invocations of Native American peoples.

TWO PERFORMANCES
Friday, November 2, 2007, 8pm St. Mary’s Cathedral, NW 18th & Couch
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 8pm Town Hall Seattle, 8th & Seneca

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Jo Routh and David Stutz preparing to sing with Robert Kyr at the keyboard.

Pre-concert talks will take place at 7pm by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, author of Beyond the Shattered Image: Insights into an Orthodox Ecological Worldview. Kyr hosts a panel of Northwest environmental leaders,including Peter Drury of the Sightline Institute, in post-concert discussions.

This program is made possible in part through support from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Collins Foundation, the Herbert A. Templeton Foundation, the Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, and Town Hall Seattle. The Mark Spencer Hotel is Cappella Romana's official hotel sponsor.

About Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, and his talks on November 2 and 3

Before the concerts of A TIME FOR LIFE, in a special introductory presentation that will assume the form of an ecological meditation, Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis will explore a sacred vision of the earth.

Through images and word, he will reflect on the relationship of spirituality to ecology, emphasizing the role of icons, liturgy and self-sacrifice through asceticism.

By providing a spiritual perspective on the sacredness and beauty of the natural environment, he proposes that heaven and earth interpenetrate, restoring communion between God and the natural world.

In icons and in liturgy, God becomes incarnate, while matter becomes a vehicle of the Spirit.




More about Dr. Chryssavgis:

The Dr. Rev. John Chryssavgis
Theological Advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch
on Environmental Issues

The Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis was born in Australia (1958), where he matriculated from the Scots College (1975). He received his degree in Theology from the University of Athens (1980) and a diploma in Byzantine Music from the Greek Conservatory of Music (1979), and was awarded a research scholarship to St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary (1982). He completed his doctoral studies in Patristics at the University of Oxford (1983). After several months in silent retreat on Mt Athos, he served as Personal Assistant to the Greek Orthodox Primate in Australia (1984-94) and was co-founder of St Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney (1985), where he was Sub-Dean and taught Patristics and Church History (1986-95). He was also Lecturer in the Divinity School (1986-90) and the School of Studies in Religion (1990-95) at the University of Sydney. In 1995, he moved to Boston, where he was appointed Professor of Theology at Holy Cross School of Theology and directed the Religious Studies Program at Hellenic College until 2002. He established the Environment Office at the same School in 2001. He has also taught as professor of Patristics at Balamand University in Lebanon.

He currently serves as theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues.

The author of several books and numerous articles on the Church Fathers and Orthodox Spirituality, Fr. John’s most recent publications include Soul Mending: The Art of Spiritual Direction (Holy Cross Press, 2000), In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (World Wisdom Books, 2002), Letters from the Desert: A Selection from Barsanuphius and John (St. Vladimir’s Press, 2003), and Light Through Darkness: the Orthodox tradition (Orbis Books, 2004).

Married to Sophie, Fr. John has two boys—Alexander (19 yrs, a sophomore at the Catholic University of America) and Julian (17 yrs, a high school senior).

Sneak preview of "A TIME FOR LIFE"

Here are some of the texts from Robert Kyr's A TIME FOR LIFE:

I.

"O Creator:
Look at our brokenness.

In all creation,
Only the human family
Has strayed from the Sacred Way.

O Creator:
Teach us love, compassion, and honor,
So we may heal the earth.
So we may heal each other."

--Ojibway Prayer, adapted by Robert Kyr


II.

"O Creator:
Guide us to preserve your creation.
help us to protect the fullness of nature
In which we live and move and have our being.
Give us the breath of winds.
Give us the flow of waters.
Give us light."

--Adapted by Robert Kyr from the Orthodox "Service for the Environment"


III.

"A time for war
And a time for peace;
A time to mourn
And a time to dance;
A time for silence
And a time for music--
A time for life
And only life."

--Adapted by Robert Kyr from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8