The Parish Choir
Responses during the Divine Services at St. Elia's were initially sung by a Cantor, as was the
practice in many Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Churches. Stoyan Mitseff served as St. Elia's first Cantor from the Church's
inception through the 1970s.
The Parish Choir traces its beginnings
back to the late 1950s, when Mrs. Bessie Nicoloff gathered some of the women in the parish together to teach them how to sing
Liturgical Hymns. Bessie was a music teacher for stringed instruments in the Akron Public Schools.
The Choir began singing on a regular basis in 1971. In addition to directing the choir, made up
mostly of women, Mrs. Nicoloff wrote out all of the music for the Liturgy and compiled it into notebooks for the choir. Responses,
as well as the entire Liturgy at that time, were sung in Church Slavonic. The melodies used were predominantly from the Russian
Church, however several hymns did have Bulgarian composers.
In
1983, with the arrival of Fr. Don Anthony Freude, the Parish Choir began to learn the hymns of the Divine Liturgy in English.
The Choir also began to sing the responses to Great Vespers on Saturday evenings, as well as the other Services of the Church.
In 1984, Mr. Terrence Bilas began to assist Mrs. Nicoloff with choir directing
duties, and especially with the acquisition of English language Liturgical music. The repertoire of the Choir expanded, and
3-part female singing eventually was replaced with 4-part mixed, as male voices were added. Terry took over the reins of the
Choir in the late 1980s with Bessie's gradual, and well-earned, retirement.
In 1991, on the occasion of the 45th Anniversary of the founding of St. Elia the Prophet Orthodox Church,
the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America awarded Mrs. Bessie Nicoloff with a Gramata, thanking her for
using her God-given talents for so many years as Choir Director at St. Elia's.
The Parish Choir of St. Elia's today numbers 19 members, consisting of both adults and children under
the direction of Subdeacon Terrence Bilas. The repertoire is constantly expanding and now includes Serbian, Romanian,
Greek, and Carpatho-Russian, as well as Russian melodies. The Divine Liturgy is sung entirely in English, however Church Slavonic
is sometimes used when the Choir has to repeat various Hymns. The Choir also sings the Paschal Troparion in Church Slavonic,
Greek, Arabic, Romanian, and Spanish during the entire Paschal Season.
It is the function of the Choir to lead the congregation in prayer and responses during the Divine Services. Everyone,
not just those in the choir, is encouraged to sing in praise and worship. Congregational singing books are now in the planning
stage, however, the Parish Choir will continue to join its voices to those of the angels praising and glorifying our Lord.
