Psalmody — bringing about choral singing, a bond as it were, toward unity, and joining people into a harmonious union of one choir — produces also the greatest of blessings: love.
— Saint Basil the Great

SingCon Mission Statement

The goal of SingCon is to advance the state and quality of church music in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the English-speaking world, gathering cantors, choir directors, singers, clergy, and others interested in church singing to meet one another, network, share resources, discuss various issues, and—most importantly—to pray together, glorifying God. SingCon sees the traditional Byzantine liturgy and chant of the UGCC as essential sources of liturgical and spiritual renewal for Christians in the twenty-first century. Following the principles outlined by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in his pastoral letter on church singing from 1941, SingCon seeks to successfully integrate congregational and choral singing, raising both to the highest standard.

More than 80 participants gathered from all across Canada and the United States of America for the third Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Singing Conference, popularly known as “SingCon,” at Saint Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church in Welland, Ontario, from 28 September to 1 October 2023. The pastor of St Michael’s, Father Jaroslaw Lazoryk, and the parishioners welcomed the attendees and provided tasty meals in the parish hall. Over the course of four days, the participants attended workshops and rehearsals in preparation for the liturgical services during the gathering, particularly weekday Vespers in the evenings and Parastas in the mornings, as well as Great Vespers with Litia on Saturday evening for the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, Sunday Matins, and the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. The men’s and women’s kliroi were directed by Reader Ilya Galadza and Dobrodiyka Melita Mudri-Zubacz, respectively.

Bishop Bohdan (Danylo) of the Eparchy of Saint Josaphat in Parma, Ohio, presided at the Saturday evening and Sunday morning services. Since its inception in 2018, Bishop Bohdan has been the patron of SingCon, when the gathering took place in Parma, Ohio. The second SingCon took place at St Basil’s Seminary in Stamford, Connecticut, in 2019. The 2020 gathering scheduled to take place in the Philadelphia Archeparchy was postponed due to the pandemic and replaced by various online teaching initiatives and resources. This third gathering is the first regular, in-person SingCon event organized after the pandemic.

This year’s SingCon was dedicated to the memory of the newly-reposed Archpriest Roman Galadza (1943–2023), pastor of Saint Elias Church in Brampton, who was active in the previous SingCon gatherings, guiding cantors throughout the world towards a better understanding and celebration of our rich liturgical heritage. The keynote address was given by Dr. Brian Butcher, a subdeacon of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the ecumenical relations secretary for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. His stimulating talk addressed our own worship and the intersection between the psychology and sociology of singing with the experience and understanding of beauty. On Saturday evening after Great Vespers with Litia, the traditional Town Hall Discussion was moderated by Julian Hayda. Panelists included Bishop Bohdan, Hieromonk Herman, Dobrodiyka Kim Bombak, and Namisha Hlus, who discussed various questions, including inculturation and the use of English in worship, the resolutions of the recent Synod of Bishops of the UGGG held in Rome in September regarding ministry to Ukrainian refugees and the Ukrainian language, the participation of children in liturgical worship, and the meaning of “active participation” (participatio actuosa) in congregational singing.

Participants left the gathering invigorated by the beautiful worship, more knowledgeable of UGCC singing tradition through workshops and rehearsals, better informed by the discussions, and energized by the fellowship and new friendships formed over the four days together.

Mini SINGCON 2021 Hybrid–Online

Saturday and Sunday, November 6–7, 2021

Scroll down for videos of the Name That Tone webinar, of Fr. Peter’s lecture, and of church services (including homilies by Fr. Roman and Fr. Tom)

Name That Tone Special Edition Webinar with talks by Fr. Joseph and Reader Ilya

Lecture by Fr. Peter Galadza on the theological meaning of church singing in our spiritual life

Great Vespers on Saturday evening (Tone 3 and Synaxis of the Unmercenary Healers)

Sunday Morning Matins (Tone 3 and Synaxis of the Unmercenary Healers, Matins Gospel 10)

Sunday Divine Liturgy (Tone 3, 21st Sunday after Pentecost, Synaxis of the Unmercenary Healers)

Vigil (Great Vespers, but wihtout Litia to give people a bit of a break, Matins, and First Hour) for the Feast of the holy Archangel Michael and the Synaxis of the Incorporeal Powers

Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the holy Archangel Michael and the Synaxis of the Bodiless Powers

All services livestreamed on YouTube

Texts and propers for some of the services this weekend can be downloaded here

LECTURE
Mindful Praise: A Church Singer’s “Philokalia” by Fr. Peter Galadza

Saturday, November 6, 3:30 pm (New York/Toronto) livestreamed on YouTube

NAME THAT TONE Special Edition

8:00 pm EST, Thursday, November 4, 2021

Register by writing to hello@ugccmusic.com to receive the Zoom link

NAME THAT TONE Weekly Zoom Webinar

Sign up by writing to hello@ugccmusic.com

Some updates from our virtual SingCon 2020

SingCon 2020 was supposed to start today in sunny Philadelphia, PA, hosted by Metropolitan Borys (Gudziak) and the UGCC Archeparchy of Philadelphia. Although...

Check out Podcast 1 for our Virtual SingCon 2020!

SingCon 2020 Save the Date.png

SingCon 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 :(

See you in 2021, God willing!

#SingCon2019

#SingCon2019

#SingCon2019

#SingCon2019

Saturday night Vigil from St. Elias Church in Brampton for our virtual SingCon 2020

LIVE FROM SingCon 2019

SUNDAY LITURGY LIVE FROM SingCon 2019

Saturday night Live VIGIL #SingCon2019