OCA Diocese of the West Holds Its First Music Practicum
By Emily and Josie Lorelli (Kirkland, WA)
After a peaceful and prayerful weekend at Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga and a quick pilgrimage to Fort Ross, my daughter, Josephine, and I wound our way down Highway 1 into Santa Rosa for the 2025 Music Practicum, the first event of its kind in the DOW, carried out in part thanks to the Thriving Parishes Program under the Lilly Endowment grant. We arrived at St. Seraphim of Sarov Cathedral that sunny Monday afternoon, where we joined 35 other choir directors and singers, along with men attending the Priestly Formation Program and the Diaconal Practicum. All told, there were about 100 of us. We had been promised a full and exhausting week and were excited to get started. Slipped into the front cover of a binder full of music was the program for the week. We were scheduled from 8am to 9pm every day, with only one 30-minute break Thursday afternoon. We were going to be busy.
After the Welcome BBQ (which foreshadowed many wonderful meals to come) and the opening Molieben, we met the team that would be leading the practicum: Archpriest Lawrence Margitich (our host at St. Seraphim), Archpriest David Morrison (rector of St. Anthony in Bozeman, Montana), Matushka Ruth Greenfield (choir director at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Mission in Chico, California), Serge Liberovsky (choir director at Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral in Los Angeles, California), Deacon Justin Margitich (Deacon and choir leader at St. Seraphim Cathedral in Santa Rosa), and Anna Olson (choir director at Church of the Annunciation in Milwaukie, Oregon). As they introduced themselves to us, it was clear that in addition to their individual talents what our leaders had in common was love for music, for beauty, and for Christ and His church that was wed in Liturgical singing. We were in good hands.
Whether at the beautiful services, in our workshops and plenary sessions, during rehearsal, or in individual interactions, the practicum taught and modeled the directives that they put forth at our first session: Care. Have a high bar. Be teachable. Love your neighbor.
The idea that we should care about “the things that matter” was established in our first session, “Cultivating a Healthy Choir Culture,” in which Fr. David discussed the awesome task of the choir and challenged us to be sensitive to the holiness of our role in the beauty of the services and to behave accordingly. Along the same lines, Fr. Lawrence challenged us to be mindful of the state of our own spiritual disposition—to keep a prayer rule and to go to confession regularly. From this basic care for the state of our own hearts, our ministry could bear good fruit.
The team encouraged us to express our care and love for the beauty of God’s house by setting a high bar, first for ourselves and also for our choirs. In her workshop, “Strategies for an Effective Rehearsal,” Anna Olson provided and demonstrated for the group many tools and rehearsal strategies that embodied that commitment. As directors, she said, we must prepare well for rehearsals so that they are effective: meeting the choir’s immediate needs, directing the choir’s growth, and being a fun and bonding experience. But it was clear that meeting these expectations would only be possible if they began with and were embodied by us.
The two plenary session talks, given by Fr. Stephan Meholick on the Liturgy and Dr. Vladimir Morosan on the state of the choir in the OCA, continued and deepened these themes. Fr. Meholick spoke beautifully on the mystery that is the Liturgy and its power to shape us. One of the most powerful ideas he shared that evening (one of many) was that in the Liturgy, the church becomes her most perfect self: the choir—the voice of the bride singing to her bridegroom, the deacon—an angel, the people—the royal priesthood. The way we sing, Fr. Stephan shared, becomes the way we live. The next evening Dr. Morosan presented to us a history and the present state of the choir leadership ministry in the OCA, along with a vision for the future, which focused on the importance of restoring the vocation of choir leaders in parishes. Both talks emphasized the integral role of the choir in the church and inspired us all to invest in the vocation God has given us.
The practicum continued to develop its themes in the other workshops. In Matushka Ruth Greenfield’s workshop, “The Body as an Instrument,” we practiced being teachable as we learned how to use our bodies effectively to sing well. We reviewed good resonance placement and how to sing beautiful vowels for choral tone. In rehearsals and the daily services, we found ample time to practice these techniques. Many of the pieces we sang were new to us, which offered opportunity to learn and to make mistakes. But being teachable, we discovered, also means practicing humility. We were shown and experienced that mistakes are places for growth. The Directing and Pitching workshops with Anna (beginning) and Matushka Ruth (advanced) and the Conducting Master Class with Serge provided great practical experience.
The theme reinforcing all the others was the last—Love your neighbor. On the first day of the practicum, Fr. David presented the idea that the goal of the choir is two-fold: to help people pray and to keep things civil. We all laughed because on its face, this seemed obvious and simple enough, but when we considered how this plays out in the day-to-day life of a choir, we all paused in awe of the expectation. Matushka Ruth reminded us that singing in front of others is a vulnerable act that takes courage. The team consistently modeled for us how to treat members of our choir with compassion and love even while holding a high bar. Matushka invited us to fall in love with our choir members’ unique God-given voices so that we can love singing with them and lovingly address challenges we may find. In the session “Relationships Matter,” the team addressed strategies for how we can “as much as depends on [us], live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18)—with our priests, with our choir directors and members, with the congregation, with our families, and with ourselves.
Throughout the week, as we practiced and worked and sang, we had many chances to apply these four ideas into practice: to care, to have a high bar, to be teachable, to love our neighbor. The Practicum Team exemplified them, too. Through careful planning, they demonstrated a love for the beauty of God’s house and for each of us who attended what we hope will be the first of many such Music Practicums.
