There
is a small monastery in the north of Serbia where I visit occasionally.
It’s the home to two dozen monks who begin their days with a 4am
service, work in the monastery during the day producing candles and
honey, cook meatless meals, and keep the rare and ancient musical
tradition of Byzantine chanting in their services and choir practice.
Over the years I made friends there and had been invited to join in the
evening service and stay for their simple meals. During one of the
visits two years ago, I recorded a Byzantine chant in the small
monastery chapel.
I incorporated that recording in
Beyond Zero, a
piece with music and film that Bill Morrison and I made for Kronos Quartet for the centennial of World War One.
Beyond Zero ends with fragments of a
Byzantine hymn, “Eternal Memory to the Virtuous,” chanted by the monks in remembrance to all who lost their
lives in the Great War and every single war since then. When
Kronos Quartet came to perform
Beyond Zero in Serbia this fall, I invited my friends from
the monastery to the concert. To my surprise, they not only accepted to
come to the concert, but offered to perform their part live! It was an
amazing, emotionally charged event, with several distant worlds merging
on the stage.
Kronos Quartet will perform Beyond Zero in
Carnegie Hall on March 7th. Your generous contribution will enable
the Kovilj monastery monks perform live at this event, and three
days later at a concert in Urbana, IL.
Please contribute! We are grateful for any amount - and please forward the link to your
friends! These funds are to support the travel, lodging, visa expenses,
and meals for five persons.
And please plan to come
to the concerts and hear live the sound of an ancient chant that has
survived in only several monasteries in Serbia - sung by the very people
who dedicated their lives to preserving that tradition.
If
you would want to contribute but cannot access the online payment
system, please email me at avrebalov@yahoo.com, or skype me at
avrebalov.
Check the photo gallery on top of this page!
THANK YOU!
