The 'TROPOS' Byzantine Choir - BYZANTINE CHOIR 'TROPOS'

Centre for Studies of the Psaltic Art

The Choir was founded by Constantinos Ath. Angelidis and his associates in late 2005 with the aim to study and promote age-old Byzantine music.

The source of our inspiration and discipleship has been the deepest understanding of the church experience, the devout attendance of its services, the imbuing of our books of Psalms with the style and the spirit of “the music of angels,” the devotion to our own music, and the scholarly approach to a wide range of compositions made by renowned composers of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine period, who represent the chanting tradition of the Great Church and Mount Athos.

The Tropos Byzantine Choir has performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (performances organised by the Athens and Epidaurus Festival), at the National Opera of Greece, at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), where it held seven concerts in collaboration with the Music Ensembles of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, as well as in other Greek cities. The Choir has also participated in the 1st Sacred Music Festival, jointly organised by the Greek National Opera and the Ministry of Culture of Greece, performing at the Dependency (Metochion) of the Holy Sepulchre Church in the district of Plaka and at the church of St Elissaios at the courtyard of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture at Monastiraki.

Of utmost importance has been the cooperation with the musician Julien Jâlal Eddine Weiss and the Al-Kindi Ensemble, with UNESCO Artist for Peace Kudsi Erguner, with a number of Turkish singers of religious music, and with Socrates Sinopoulos as well.

The Choir has also participated in joint worship services with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, Patriarch Cyril of Moscow, Patriarch Porphyrios of Serbia, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, and Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, in long-lasting vigils at various monasteries of Mount Athos, such as the Vatopaidion Monastery, the Docheiariou Monastery, the Simonos Petra Monastery and the Xenophontos Monastery.

In its 19-year long activity, the Choir has travelled to 20 countries bringing into the foreground the Greek music culture, the psaltic art, a musical art that is instilled with distinctive spirituality that touches the human soul, defines the Greek identity and is invaluable to the development of music worldwide.

The Choir has recorded 32 CDs which are a reference point for our rich musical heritage as they feature a rich body of unpublished works by great composers from Constantinople and Mount Athos from the thirteenth century to the present.

Discography:

Constantinos Ath. Angelidis

Protopsaltes, Master of the Psaltic Art

Constantinos Angelidis was born in the city of Tripoli, Greece, in 1964. He studied Theology at the Athens Higher Ecclesiastical School and at the Faculty of Theology in the University of Athens. He also studied Byzantine Music with Constantinos Tassopoulos in 1979 and Lycourgos Angelopoulos in 1988. He won a scholarship from the Alexandros Onassis Foundation and participated as a researcher in the programme “Study and Analysis of the works of the Byzantine master Ioannes Koukouzeles.” Since 1981, he served the psaltic art as a Lampadarios and Protopsaltes and from 2014 onwards he has been the Protopsaltes of the church of St Anargyroi, Dependency (Metochion) of the Holy Sepulchre Church in the district of Plaka in Athens.

Since 1988, he has been teaching byzantine music in various schools and educational institutions, in conservatories, in Byzantine music schools of Holy Metropolises, in Monasteries and Hesychastiria in Greece and abroad (Cyprus, Romania, North Macedonia and Georgia).

He organised and taught the Choir of the Fathers of the Vatopaidion Monastery on Mount Athos from 1994 to 2005. He has also been the director in the fourteen CDs that have been released featuring chants by classical Byzantine and Vatopaidion composers. He has also directed a choir of cantors for the recording of a double CD in collaboration with the Chilandarion Monastery on Mount Athos.

Since 1996, he has been teaching at the School of Byzantine Music of the Music Foundation of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens. He conducted the Byzantine Choir of the afore-mentioned School in holy services and concerts, in the recording of the CDs Metaxy Athenon kai eschaton (From Athens to Eternity – 2008), Octoechia-Arga apolytikia (The Octoechos-Apolytikia, slow melodies – 2021), Octoechia-Anastasimes katavasies (The Octoechos-Resurrectional katavasies – 2023), as well as in the presentation of hymns of the Old Stichirarion in 2024.

As a member of the Greek Byzantine Choir, directed by Lycourgos Angelopoulos, he participated in more than 900 events in Greece and in 30 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa. He worked as a music producer for the Hellenic Radio from 1985 to 2005, and since 2009 he has cooperated with the radio station of the Church of Greece in matters of Byzantine music. Since 2022, he co-produces the broadcast “Logos kai Melos” on the web radio of Vatopaidion’s Pemptousia, with musicologist Dr Georgios Savvas.

In late 2005, Constantinos Ath. Angelidis founded the Centre for the Study of the Psaltic Art and the TROPOS Byzantine Choir. He has directed its concerts and participation in liturgical services in Greece and in 20 other countries. He has also been the choirmaster in the recording of 32 CDs presenting classic as well as unpublished works by Byzantine and more recent composers from Constantinople and Mount Athos.

ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD

Photios Medas, President
Αntonios Chalaris, Vice President
Demetrios Nentas, Secretary
Constantinos Moutaphis, Treasurer
Avraam Emmanouil, Team Manager
Tryphonos Constantinos, Member
Savvas Georgios, Member

HONORARY MEMBERS

Christos Zerefos
Academician, Supervisor of the Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens

Michael Meraklis
Professor Emeritus of Folklore Studies, University of Athens

Panteleimon Paschos
Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Theology, University of Athens

Ioannis Tsegos
Psychiatrist, President of the Open Psychotherapy Centre

Demetrios Chatziapostolou
Painter

Kriton Chryssochoidis
Director Emeritus of Research, Institute for Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation

BYZANTINE CHOIR ‘TROPOS’