Saint Alexander’s choir
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Saint Alexander’s choir was founded in 1943. It serves and is inspired by a historical 77-year-old course and has its roots deeply embedded in the Greek society and tradition and more specifically the southern suburbs.
It follows the Orthodox East Dogma. From its foundation until the recent year 2015, our choir used to represent the musical identification/ identity of the church of Saint Alexander in Palaion Faliron, which is, in terms of administration, a part of the Holy Metropolis of New Smyrna. Both the choir and its founder and former Principal, John Kottoros, have received numerous distinctions, the most recent of which would be the granting of the Golden Cross of Apostle Paul (2003) by Christodoulos, the Archbishop of Athens. Ever since 2014, the choir’s management has been undertaken by Charalampos Stergiopoulos-Roubas, who, in an attempt to extend the choir’s activity, has insisted upon the “recruitment” of new members within a new plan of redevelopment and constant presence.
MEMBERS- REPERTOIRE
The choir is primarily composed by young people (students and scientists, between the ages of 20-30), who are voluntarily and passionately serving a unique and significant musical repertoire created throughout the course of the Greek Enlightenment. Thus, these members achieve to preserve this thriving and lively polyphonic ecclesiastical tradition of Athens, an originally Greek musical variety that goes back 200 years. The choir employs the polyphonic music of three or four groups of male voices without any instrumental accompaniment (A Capella). This arrangement was initiated by Greek and Russian composers of the 19th and 20th century and was fundamentally intended as a means of orthodox worship. The choir’s activity has been constant, leading to annual participations in concerts, not only within the borders of Greece, but also abroad (some representative instances would be our recent performances in Majorca, London, Moscow, the Athens music Hall, etc). These invitations naturally offered the members the chance to visit places which played a significant part in the emergence of the music that they uphold.
ORGANISATION-OPERATION
Upon entering a new phase in 2014, our choir has consciously focused on what usually appeals to younger people; the act of giving through the practice of art and through sharing a common vision for the improvement of our daily routine. All this is viable within the framework of cooperation and the wish to achieve a common goal.
Saint Alexander’s Choir invites any young man of any musical level to learn music, through a series of phonetic sessions as well as through actual practice on a weekly basis and performances in Greece and abroad.
CHOIR & GREEKS (HELLENISM) OF DIASPORA
We expand our affairs with all of the Greek communities of Diaspora.
In the spirit of serving the Greek tradition, we are striving to grow our relationship with all of the Greek communities of Diaspora and we participate in liturgies and concerts that served as (the) cradles of this musical kind during the Enlightenment period, like London, Paris, Vienna, Venice, Moscow, etc. Our wish is not to simply settle for those destinations, but to visit all the Greek communities world-widely and assist those that belong in them to maintain a close and productive relationship with the Metropolitan aspect of Greece.
This goal was determined so as to facilitate the interaction between those communities and our members. Not only did they help us withstand all odds by providing us with the products of Enlightment in the past, but they also represent a current source of inspiration for the young members of our choir.
We are, therefore, searching for sponsors and supporters of this venture, hoping that they will be able to assist us in the solution of certain practical matters. To be more specific, transportation and accommodation expenses need to be covered for each and every one of our destinations, if this dream is ever to be materialized.