ORTHODOX ECCLESIASTICAL BYZANTINE CHOIR
The Orthodox Ecclesiastical Byzantine Choir was founded in 1992 by Mihail Makris, music teacher at both the Greek National Conservatoire and a high school, in collaboration with graduates from the Greek National Conservatoire. The aim of their work is to promote mental and spiritual development as well as an in-depth study and spreading of genuine Ecclesiastical Byzantine Music, originating from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Mount Athos (the Holy Mountain).

In the 20 years since its foundation (1992-2012), the Orthodox Ecclesiastical Byzantine Choir has participated in more than 500 events (liturgies, vigils, concerts and so on). Some of the most memorable moments during its long-standing active presence in our country’s musical culture, are the great musical tribute to Smyrna at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the participation in the Sacred Music Festival in the Greek island of Patmos (known as “the Island of Revelation”), the concert entitled Ealo i Polis (The Fall of Constantinople) in the fortified town of Mystras during the local event “Palaiologeia 2009”, and the original concert entitled Ide o Amnos (Behold the Lamb of God) at the Greek National Opera, which described the Divine Passion through Eastern and Western music.

It has presented its work on public and private television, as well as in numerous radio broadcasts. Addressing very young people, from 1996 to date, it has undertaken the organization of a series of Greek music events at educational institutions (high schools, colleges) and Greek schools abroad, aiming for their initiation into our musical heritage.

It has so far recorded 30 CDs and produced 2 DVDs, including unpublished religious services as well as important works of great composers of Greek Byzantine Music, such as Ioannis Kukuzelis, Iakovos the Precentor and Germanos of New Patras, to name but a few.

The Choir’s work has been acknowledged by prominent members of spiritual, political and social life, not only in Greece but also abroad, including His Most Godly Beatitude Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem, Metropolitan Bishops, university professors etc. On 23 November 2002, Mihail Makris and members of the Choir were received at the Presidential Mansion in Athens by the then-President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, who, in an air of friendliness and cordiality, congratulated them pointing out the importance of their work regarding the preservation and spreading of our national music.