The PaTRAM™ SINGER SPOTLIGHT SERIES Continues!

This week we introduce Richard Barrett, tenor. Richard is an Orthodox church musician, choral singer and scholar. He is the Executive Director of AGES Initiatives, which distributes service texts and liturgical music to Orthodox parishes throughout the world, and Artistic Director of the Saint John of Damascus Society, which supports the performance and dissemination of Orthodox sacred music. Since 2015, he has served as Director of Music at Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, MA. He has a performer’s certificate in Byzantine music from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and has been an invited clinician, speaker, and guest cantor at Orthodox churches throughout the country. He is also the co-host of the podcast, “A Sacrifice of Praise: The Living Tradition of Byzantine Music in America.”

He sings regularly with multiple ensembles, including Cappella Romana, the Patriarch Tikhon Choir, and Psaltikon. Richard sang with PaTRAM choirs on: “Praise The Lord, All Ye Nations”, “The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom” and “Blessed Art Thou among Women”. He has worked with conductors such as Alexander Lingas, Benedict Sheehan, Peter Jermihov, Marcel Pérès and Vladimir Gorbik.

In addition to a variety of publications and presentations, recently he was an invited speaker at “Byzantine Chant in the Anglosphere”, an event sponsored by City University of London in memory of Archimandrite +Ephrem (Lash). He holds a B. Mus. in vocal performance and an M. A. in Ancient History, both from Indiana University, and has done further work in Modern Greek studies.

Voice teachers include Dennis Kruse, Erich Parce, and Dale Moore, and Richard has also studied Byzantine chant with Ioannis Arvanitis, John Michael Boyer, and Fr. Romanos Karanos.