Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute

My name is Tatiana, and I grew up going to church and listening to our choir doing their best to sing services. Honestly, I never really paid too much attention to the singing. Mostly, the choir was just trying to sing in tune, and the conductor’s task was to keep the beat.

In 2017 my entire life changed!

I was hired by PaTRAM Institute to plan The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom project, a new English-language recording of Orthodox choral music commissioned from composer Dr. Kurt Sander. The venue for the recording was the stunning New Gracanica Serbian Orthodox monastery outside of Chicago. I had been running an event planning business for many years, and my job for PaTRAM was to manage the logistics of the project.

I could never have imagined that something astounding and extraordinary would happen to me!

Christian Orthodox churches are very beautiful with iconography from floor to ceiling. And, indeed, the New Gracanica Church was a breathtaking setting. The rehearsal was set to begin; the conductor raised his baton, and the choir began to sing. I was sitting in the back of the church, typing an email to make arrangements for our evening meal, and suddenly I couldn’t move. My hands stopped typing. I could focus on nothing else except the ethereal music swirling around the church and entering my very being.

I felt transported to a plane somewhere between HEAVEN and EARTH.

It is what I imagined God’s angels must sound like. The splendor of the sound pierced my soul, and in that moment, I understood the importance of truly prayerful singing. That sacred music deepened my faith, my relationship with God and to the Church and brought my heart peace and spiritual joy. I was transformed!

I continued to work with PaTRAM Institute on their next two albums. Incredibly, I witnessed multitudes of people affected by the music as much as I had been! Local residents huddled outside our recording venues and on balconies of adjacent buildings in the hopes of hearing the heavenly and exquisite music coming from inside the church venues. I saw believers and non-believers alike so overcome by emotion that they wept like children at PaTRAM concert performances. The power of music is boundless.

PaTRAM’s MOST IMPORTANT work may never be heard!

By God’s grace, this past June PaTRAM overcame innumerable obstacles, including the pandemic and challenging political events, to bring together 52 male choristers from the US, Canada, Serbia, Australia and Russia. The choir gathered to sing the first-of-its-kind, male choir recording of one of the greatest compositions in all of Orthodox Music – Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil”. The gifted Maestro Ekaterina Antonenko, a renowned female conductor from Moscow, brilliantly directed the choir. This sublime music was recorded in the Russian Orthodox Ascension Convent atop the Mount of Olives in the holiest of holy cities, Jerusalem. I can promise you that every member of the ensemble was inspired and deeply affected by the Holy City and brought their very best to the project. The choir performed two concerts and was honored by standing ovations and the attendance of many dignitaries, including the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III. Concert guests of different faiths were brought to tears by the music and perhaps the realization that people from countries in conflict could still collaborate through the arts and faith to create beautiful, prayerful music. This “musical diplomacy” is desperately needed in our fractured world.

Rachmaninoff’s ethereal masterpiece of spiritual artistry is recorded, but now it must be mastered and prepared for PaTRAM to share with you. We are all keenly aware of the recent dramatic increases in prices for everything from food to transportation. Our project was significantly impacted by these unexpected increases, and the funds to complete the Rachmaninoff in the Holy Land project have run out. The MOST IMPORTANT FINAL PHASE of the project is in jeopardy!

Today PaTRAM must urgently raise $30,000 to bring the Rachmaninoff “All-Night Vigil” to the world.

I truly believe that music holds such immense power that it can dramatically transform your life in an instant. It can heal, inspire and touch your soul in a way no written words can ever do. Inspiration, emotion, faith – music has the power to spark this in all of us. And PaTRAM Institute is committed to sharing this gift with all who will listen.

PaTRAM Institute is exclusively supported by listeners and donors like you. Every donated dollar goes toward making sacred music at the highest level. All administrative expenses are covered by the Lukianov Family Foundation.

Please DONATE and bring this transformational music to all who seek beauty and depth.

Please DONATE and enrich humanity through the eternal power of liturgical music.

Every donation is greatly appreciated. Together, we can bring this unique and extraordinarily beautiful MALE CHOIR arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s crowning achievement, the “All-Night Vigil”, to life. Our goal is to have the album ready for distribution by 2023 in time for the 150th Anniversary of S. Rachmaninoff’s birth. Time is of the essence, and we must act now.

Help us reach our $30,000 GOAL to complete the FINAL PHASE of the Rachmaninoff in the Holy Land project. DONATE TODAY.

May God bless you for your generosity!

Please share with friends and family and help us reach our goal.

“…You will open a window through which the beauty of the Heavenly Kingdom will shine into your life in a particularly intense and radiant fashion.”

— Orthodox Arts Journal review of PaTRAM Institute’s CD “The Divine Liturgy of St. Chrysostom”

PaTRAM Institute is a registered 501c3 charity. For more information, please visit www.patraminstitute.org.