“Protect Us with Your Divine Veil”
Anniversary Concert in Cabramatta

On Sunday, 12 October, the eve of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Protection Parish in Cabramatta, a concert of Church Music was held of the youth choir of Deacon Vadim Gan. The concert was held in the church itself, which possesses wonderful acoustics. The choir consists of 22 singers. Over 200 people attended, some having traveled from far away: Newcastle and Canberra, the Australian capital.

Before the concert, the secretary of the Australian Diocese, Protopriest Michael Boikov, gave an introduction. The program had great variety–there were different traditions of Russian church singing presented, beginning with harmonizations of the znamenny chant, and ending with compositions of the St. Petersburg school. Many compositions of the Russian diaspora were sung as well: M. Konstantinov, P. Raspopov, B. Ledkovsky, A. Ilyashchenko and I. Gardner.

At the conclusion of the concert, the archpastor of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese, His Eminence Archbishop Hilarion, congratulated the choir director and singers, thanking them for the spiritual consolation they provided, noting also that thanks to Russian emigres, Russian church singing became a treasure of the entire world, since in every corner of the world, wherever Russian emigres settled, churches were built and services conducted. Vladyka Hilarion also emphasized that the organization of a concert in the church itself is a worthy way of paying homage to the builders and creators of Protection church in Cabramatta.

Since the church itself was crowded, it is hoped that the next concert of Deacon Vadim Gan’s choir will be held in a larger venue, and with time in different cities of Australia.

The clergy and all present expressed the hope that another concert would be given by the choir.
Thanks to Deacon Vadim and the choir, for their labors and love for Church music, and also to the Sisterhood of Protection Church for the fine refreshments.

Protodeacon Basil Yakimov