Workshop on Byzantine Chant with Dr Alex Khalil

Saturday 2nd May, 11am, Doolan Room 217, MTU Cork School of Music

This talk and interactive workshop explores the relationship between the notations on the page and what a cantor might actually sing. Melodies may have multiple correct realisations that a cantor must negotiate in relation to received tradition and practical necessity. The presentation will explore some of
these variations in theory and in practice.
Dr Alexander Khalil is a senior lecturer in music and joint head of music at University College Cork. An ethnomusicologist and cognitive scientist, his work investigates the interpersonal temporal dynamics of music making. He is a cantor in the Greek Orthodox chant tradition, a student of the late John Mestakides, former protopsaltis (or “first cantor”) of Jerusalem. His doctoral research investigates the present-day tradition at one of its most significant centers: the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. More recently, he has extended his work to communities in diaspora.