The Fund for Assistance to ROCOR helps wherever possible, raising money for missions, schools, monasteries, youth, clergy in need, and even victims of global catastrophes. But one of the greatest causes the FFA supports is choir work. So much of the beauty and theology of Holy Orthodoxy is found in its hymnody, and a good choir can truly transport worshippers from earth to Heaven. That’s why kind donors like you have generously supported choir work.

One of the projects that received the most positive response and requests for more, were masterclasses led by Maestro Vladimir Gorbik. Discover below how indispensable his work has been, and why so many ROCOR musicians are ready for more!

In the past five years, the FFA has disbursed almost $100,000 to fund ROCOR choir work: $26,000 to music conferences in North America, more than $26,000 to conferences in Europe, and $4,500 to the Summer Liturgical School, among others. In addition to this, the FFA has also raised over $54,000 for youth conferences in all three U.S. dioceses, which themselves feature choral work with attendees.

But the largest portion of choir funding – just over $32,000 ‒ has gone toward a very unique project: the master classes of Maestro Vladimir Gorbik. We’ve received a lot of questions about Maestro Gorbik’s work, and we’d like to take this opportunity to share with our donors – and all of ROCOR – how indispensable his work has been, and why we are proud to support it.

For many years, Vladimir Gorbik served as the world-renowned choirmaster at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra Metochion in Moscow and associate professor (docent) of conducting at the Moscow Conservatory, artistic director and chief conductor at the Moscow Capital Symphony Orchestra, and was even the first Orthodox choir director ever nominated for a GRAMMY! But what you may not know is Maestro Gorbik’s work with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and his close personal relationships with her hierarchs, clergy, and faithful.

Vladimir Gorbik’s love of the Russian Diaspora can fairly be said to have started in 2007. That was when Archpriest Peter Perekrestov (dean of the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in San Francisco) reached out to Gorbik to become part of his ambitious project “Chants of the Russian Émigrés.” The project was already six volumes in; Gorbik was asked to conduct Volume 7, comprised principally of works by Boris Ledkovsky, as well as Nikolai Tcherepnin, Nikolai Kedroff, Sr., Johann von Gardner, Mikhail Konstantinov, and others.

Gorbik’s abilities with a choir approach the legendary, able to turn a collection of novice singers into a professional-sounding collective in just a few short (but grueling) days. As word spread, he was invited to do his first master class at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Crestwood, NJ in June 2012. The class was attended by several ROCOR singers, some of whom were attending the 22nd All-Diaspora Church Music Conference of the North American Dioceses at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto that October. One attendee was so taken with what she learned that she insisted Gorbik make plans to be there, saying, “Everything you are telling us is really unbelievable. I would like you to come to our music conference in Toronto. I want all of America to hear what you said here in Crestwood.”

Gorbik accepted the invitation and more. On ROCOR’s official website, Vladimir V. Krassovsky (choir director of “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Cathedral in San Francisco), reported afterward that Gorbik “shared his vast experience, at the same time focusing on the spiritual approach to the work of choir directors and church singers. During his master classes for directors and singers, participants witnessed Vladimir’s very high level of professionalism and dedication to the Church. [He] also gave a talk on ‘Questions of contemporary performance of liturgical music in the Orthodox Church.’”

The chairman of the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission, Archpriest Andre Papkov, was so pleased with Gorbik’s involvement at the conference that he wrote to Archimandrite Dionysius (Kolesnik), rector of Lavra Metochion in Moscow, saying in part:

“On behalf of the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, [the cathedral rector], members of the organizing committee, and parishioners, I have the honor and great joy to express our sincere gratitude for your help and support in blessing [Gorbik’s] visit to Canada, where he shared his mastery with all of the participants of the [Conference] in Toronto. Responses to Vladimir Alexandrovich’s participation were most enthusiastic… His master class in directing proceeded spectacularly, with young choir conductors of Diasporan Russia received priceless instruction and counsel for their further work in the vineyard of Church singing… We intend, given your blessing, to invite Vladimir Alexandrovich to our next conference.”

February and March of the following year saw an event that would change everything: together with Benedict Sheehan (choir director at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, PA) and (now Deacon) Nicholas Kotar, Gorbik founded the Patriarch Tikhon Choir, having found the perfect Heavenly patron for Russian-American Orthodox musical collaboration.

In March and April 2013, the same attendee from Crestwood who invited Gorbik to Toronto now introduced him to businessman and singer Alexis Lukianov and his wife Katya. Gorbik shared his vision of “combining professionalism and prayer” – a vision inspired by Metropolitan Longin (Korchagin), who had been the rector of the Lavra Metochion and blessed Gorbik to spread his methods of choral singing around the world. Together, Gorbik and the Lukianovs agreed to found PaTRAM – the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute, into which the Patriarch Tikhon Choir was incorporated.

Master classes in the U.S. and elsewhere then began to follow at a rapid pace.

On September 8-19, 2013, a concert tour was held in Manhattan, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. A New York Times review wrote: “The chorus demonstrated an appealingly blended sound, austere and somber in the chant and joyous and more full-blooded in the works by Rachmaninoff. According to the program book, contemporary composers who write sacred music and embrace the Orthodox Church are not interested ‘in constructing a unique musical identity for themselves per se, but rather in faithfully carrying on and humbly adding to a living tradition of sung prayer, just as their predecessors did before them.’ … The female, then male voices blended beautifully, quiet and reserved before swelling to a more sumptuous sound.”

Introducing the review, PaTRAM’s website noted, “It is a rare thing for a newly-formed choir to launch from complete obscurity to critical acclaim in only a few months. However, performing to full houses and standing ovations… under the expert hand of Maestro Vladimir Gorbik, the Patriarch Tikhon Choir has quickly established itself as one of North America’s premier professional ensembles performing Orthodox sacred music.”

In the midst of the tour, on September 13-14, a master class was held at St. Tikhon’s Monastery, including the signing of the divine services for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The names PaTRAM and Gorbik were synonymous and would remain so for over seven years until December 2020, with Gorbik leading all of the PaTRAM-sponsored master classes.

In February 2014, a master class was held at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. Participating was the seminarian choir under the direction of Nicholas Kotar, joined by singers from across North America, including Canada, Minnesota, and Texas. Another master class was held at St. Tikhon Monastery and Seminary in June 2014, with roughly 50 attendees (almost all of the master classes had anywhere from 30-50 attendees, including 5-10 parish choir directors). It was here that a decision was made to record a CD. “Praise the Lord, All ye Nations” was recorded in December 2014 with a 30-voice mixed choir, and released in November 2015.

The next master class was held in September 2016 at Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, attended by dozens of ROCOR singers.

From June 29-July 2, 2017, at the invitation of Bishop Theodosius of Seattle, a master class was held at St. Matrona Cathedral in Miami, FL. The hierarch officiated the divine services, which “were joyfully sung by a combined choir of master class participants in a way that an extraordinarily prayerful mood was felt in the church,” as reported the Eastern American Diocesan website. Miami newspapers even covered the event, quoting Bishop Theodosius as saying, “The choir sang beautifully and deeply prayerfully.”

Gorbik immediately followed this up with another master class at his home base: Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra Metochion in Moscow, on July 6-12. A PaTRAM event organized by Alexis Lukianov, this included not only singers from Russia, but from the U.S. and Australia, as well. With the blessing of His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill, then-Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan visited to officiate the divine services at the Metochion Church for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. ROCOR cleric Archpriest Peter Holodny (serving in Moscow and currently on the FFA’s Board of Directors) was in attendance.

In August 2017, yet one more master class, entitled “The Performance and Interpretation of Russian Sacred Choral Music,” was held at Holy Virgin Mary OCA Cathedral in Los Angeles. Though hosted by an OCA parish, many ROCOR singers were in attendance, as well. In a review in “The Orthodox Arts Journal,” local participant Joseph Nakpil wrote: “we were each offered a glimpse of a craftsman at work, and in turn reached some form of milestone in our participation in the ministry of church singing. Because of Gorbik’s intensity, our collective focus during the sessions was razor sharp, which proved to be physically taxing but ultimately rewarding. Additionally, thanks to the deftness of Gorbik’s direction, we as singers were both challenged and reassured that we could trust whatever direction he led us. Such an approach lessened our own fears as we saw the task submit to the fearlessness of the Maestro.”

Beginning in 2018, a new series of master classes began, hosted by St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, NJ – the administrative center of the Eastern American Diocese. These often concluded in hierarchal divine services: both the master class in June in conjunction with conductor Peter Jermihov and PaTRAM and that timed to coincide with the parish’s patronal feast in September culminated in services celebrated by Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral; +2022) of blessed memory. Metropolitan Hilarion, along with the cathedral’s founder and longtime rector Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov (+2018), gave their blessings for Gorbik’s work and thanked him for the great improvements they saw in the choir.

The cathedral rector, Archpriest Serge Lukianov, sounded ecstatic at the progress he saw: “Vladimir Gorbik is a very gifted and talented choir conductor. In the past years he has given many of our singers and conductors at the cathedral the skills of proper singing in church combined with prayer. We are grateful to him for sharing with us his wealth of experience and energy to sing to the glory of God!”

More followed in 2019: a Great Lenten master class, which coincided with the clergy retreat at the cathedral, concluded in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated by then-Bishop Nicholas; Metropolitan Hilarion and Bishop Luke of Syracuse celebrated Liturgy at the end of a June master class directed by Maestro Gorbik and Benedict Sheehan; Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada, then-Bishop Nicholas, and Bishop Luke celebrated Liturgy for the feast of the Optina Elders at the end of an October master class, which coincided with a diocesan pastoral clergy conference at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY.

At the end of October, Gorbik’s “Capital Symphony Orchestra” held its first concert in a series titled “Breaking Boundaries” at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Manhattan. Metropolitan Hilarion and then-Bishop Nicholas were both in attendance, along with Alexis and Katya Lukianov and Tatiana Zacharin-Geringer, Head Scoutmaster of the St. George Pathfinders of America

Another great achievement was reached in 2019, as well: Gorbik as conductor and artistic director, along with soloists Mikhail Davydov and Vladimir Krasov and the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Choral Performance for their CD, Chesnokov’s “Teach me Thy Statutes” (2018). The CD also won MusicWeb International’s 2018 Recording of the Year.

In 2020, the global COVID pandemic presented a new set of challenges for the indefatigable maestro. Two planned master classes in March and June had to be canceled due to lockdowns and travel restrictions, but by the end of the year, a new medium was put to use: in late November-early December, a webinar over 100 attendees was held. Another was held in June of 2021 exclusively for ROCOR singers.

By the late summer, restrictions had eased, and in August an in-person master class was held once more, this time at Sts. Peter & Fevronia Church in Merriam, KS, at the invitation of its rector, Priest Zachary Rose. This event was proudly sponsored by FFA donors and aimed at ROCOR singers in the middle of the country, who otherwise might not have been able to travel to the East or West Coasts. A second master class in Kansas followed that October.

“I hope that it’s the beginning of a long-term relationship here with Vladimir Gorbik and this community and this area, which is so geographically isolated from the rest of the country, from church singers, from church music, from the network of the Russian Orthodox Church musicians and conferences,” said church singer and long-time choir director, Athanasia Worley.

“People don’t quite realize how geographically isolated it is here… how thirsty you get for someone who thinks the way you do, feels the way you do, and has been given music as their native language for prayer.”

“Prior to taking Gorbik’s master class, I felt like my conducting style was very basic and I lacked confidence in what I was doing,” said choir director Jackie Flowers. “After taking his class, I have begun to feel like I’m being formed as a choir director, understanding how to use conducting to lead the choir, and also having more spiritual depth in understanding the music, as well.”

Travel restrictions were not the only – or most significant – difficulty facing Gorbik. From March to December 2020, the Lavra Metochion faced financial difficulty owing to the COVID lockdowns: all but two choir members were let go (the church even closed for a time for quarantine), and Gorbik was out of work. Through these nine months, donors from around the world helped the family, many of whom were ROCOR faithful, with the help of the St. Alexander Nevsky Benevolent Fund and Archpriest Serge Lukianov.

From January to July 2021, he was given the great honor of being elected head choir director at Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra itself (in Sergiev Posad, roughly 50 miles from Moscow), where for six months he led both the male and mixed choirs, each comprising 50-60 singers. Unfortunately, the distance proved a hindrance, which became an insurmountable obstacle when his car broke down. This not only meant that he could not travel for work; with various restrictions still in place, getting out of the city was of the utmost importance for both mental and physical health. (Gorbik and his wife Svetlana have 10 children, so their dacha outside of Moscow is a godsend for finding a little room for everyone to breathe and relax).

Once again, the maestro found himself without employment. It was during this difficult time that FFA donors helped Gorbik directly. Before, support was limited to airfare and offsetting the cost of the master classes. Now, you had a chance to help a family in real need – and you did! A $5,000 loan was given to the Gorbik family, which is being incrementally repaid.

“From July 2021 to January 2022, we found ourselves without any income for the second time. We had to face reality: how were our children going to eat? If not for the help of the Fund for Assistance, we simply would not have survived,” Gorbik writes.

With God’s help, a new opportunity presented itself in January 2022, when he was hired as conductor at Our Lady of Tikhvin Church in Alexeevskoe, Moscow, where he remains to this day.

Two more in-person master classes followed in August 2022 – the first at St. Andrew’s Antiochian Church in Eustis, FL, and the second at St. Katherine OCA Church in Carlsbad, CA. Writing about benefits of the master class, Carlsbad parish rector Archpriest Andew Cuneo wrote:

“This weekend, our community enjoys the blessing of going deeper into the Orthodox musical tradition with the visit of maestro Vladimir Gorbik. All that the Church offers is God-given, and our music tradition is no exception. St. Porphyrios used to say that the very notes of Byzantine chant drive away the demons. How much more so, when clergy, singers, and faithful, in the love of God, articulate the holy words about the actions of our Savior or the grace seen in His saints. When we sing, we invite grace into our hearts and into the very air around us.”

The second event was attended by more ROCOR singers, and Gorbik was invited back that December for classes hosted by ROCOR parishes in San Diego and Seattle. The former included workshops not only at St. John of Kronstadt Church, but also the local OCA and Serbian parishes, bringing these communities closer together. The class in Seattle was organized by Gregory Kotar, choir conductor at St. Nicholas Cathedral and members of the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission. Thanking Gorbik for his work in a personal testimonial, Kotar said:

“A wonderful experience… A true blessing for me and my choir members. A dream come true. [Gorbik] created a very strong friendship with the ROCOR church singing choir community and I look to future projects with him. He reached out and pursued me as a young choir director. Others reached out as well, but that would have been unaffordable at the time, or it required me to go to them for tutelage. Whereas Gorbik reached out to me and never gave up on me. I am very grateful to him.”

2023 saw Gorbik’s work with ROCOR continue. In May, he traveled to New York City for a master class with an international choir of ROCOR singers. He also had a chance to meet with Metropolitan Nicholas at the Synodal Headquarters, where our First Hierarch blessed his ongoing work and wished him well, saying, “Please continue to spread the beauty of choral singing.”

In July, yet another master class followed at St. Katherine in Carlsbad and St. John of Kronstadt in San Diego, as well as a final class in October at Our Lady “Unexpected Joy” Church in Staten Island, NY. God willing, 2024 will see even more!

Throughout all of this, Gorbik has never received money from the FFA for his work – indeed, most of his master classes were free to attend for singers and conductors. Instead, our donors helped to cover his airfare and pay to organize these educational events. Hopefully, reading this article will help you feel how much ROCOR (and other Orthodox) musicians are grateful to you for supporting these master classes. Your kind support has given so many church musicians more knowledge, skill, and hands-on (pun intended) hand training. So many left the master classes as better musicians, ready to help their choirs transform. And this would never have happened if you had not supported church conducting, and especially Maestro Gorbik’s master classes work with our ROCOR singers. Thank you!