Hey,

Metropolitan Nicholas invited us all to go down and see the boys from Blessed Theodore Romzha Seminary sing their concert at St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Johnstown last night, the first stop on their tour.

If you have a chance to go see these guys - DO IT!

They're amazing! The singing is magnificent...

Go here for schedule and info:
http://www.seminaryconcerttour.com/

They sound great! I'm going on the 28th to the Parma Cathedral. Thanks for posting this!

May God grant them safe travels around the US!

It figures--they'll be in the Burgh this weekend, and I'll be in NY for a friend's wedding!

I hope that the touring group sounds better than the group of seminarians that recently recorded some CDs. I was very disappointed with the CD of Marian Hymns. (On the other hand, their debut album of the Divine Liturgy, produced in Ukraine, is delightful!)

Dave

Dave,

Are you referring to a Marian Hymns CD that you purchased recently, and of the Uzhorod Seminary Choir, from OLTV or ECP? If so, the choir is MUCH better live than the recording since the recordings were only made with simple video cameras last May when I was there, and they were NOT made in a recording studio but the former Seminary Chapel (to keep recording costs to a minimum).

The live performances are MUCH better, and the Concert in St John's in Uniontown on Thursday evening received two standing ovations, at the end of each half of the program!

Jack Figel
Concert Tour Coordinator

If there is going to be a repeat tour will it be expanded to more locations (the West, South, etc.)?

I would love to expand the tour next time (which I also hope will occur!) If a second is scheduled, I would certainly be glad to visit other parishes in the Northeast and Midwest.

But, the economics of transporting 16-20 people to anywhere beyond the Mississippi River or south of Virginia is difficult to justify -- the only way this current tour works financially is to drive from place to place. 20 airline tickets to Texas or California would run at least $500-1000 and I'm not sure we could collect enough from donations to cover that expense. But I'm certainly open to ideas to try.

Jack

Why not add parishes and Seminary of the Carpatho-Russian Diocese to the itinerary next time around?

They stopped by the carpatho-russian chancery and seminary to mingle.

Johnstown... Rusyn heaven east of Pittsburgh!

I'm happy to report great attendance and response so far on our tour.

Johnstown -- 220
Uniontown -- 160
Seminary -- 80
Pgh Cathedral -- 240

Next stops Warren and Brecksville, OH.

Jack

I hope they're selling lots of CDs. Every touring band knows you make your money on merch sales

Great job Jack! Thanks for getting them here!

Ochon, a Seain! I don't know any touring band, and no touring band has ever any money for me.

Fr. Serge

I had the opportunity to see them at the Cathedral last night. I would highly recommend taking the time to see this group...they sounded great.

Yes, we have CD and DVD recordings of the group, in six programs, over 100 selections, and then a "Favorite Liturgies" and "Favorite Hymns" which are the "top hit parade" of the Carpathians. Sales of CDs are so brisk we've run out of our initial supply and had to have an overnight shipment sent to our next stop. They'll be on our website for sale soon.

We had about 240 attend the concert in the Pittsburgh Cathedral and another 250 in Warren, OH last night. Moving on!

Jack

Excellent, Jack!

I'm glad to hear that this is being so well received...

God bless!

Fr. Deacon Daniel