"A psalm consoles the sad, restrains the joyful, tempers the angry, refreshes the poor and chides the rich man to know himself. To absolutely all who take it, the psalm offers an appropriate medicine; nor does it despise the sinner, but presses upon him the wholesome remedy of penitential tears."
~St. Niceta of Remesiana
About Us
Trisagion School of Byzantine Music is an online Byzantine Chant training program that was founded in 2020 by Samuel Herron, Amy Hogg, and Gabriel Cremeens. Its mission is to offer Byzantine Chant instruction in English with a focus on the ever-growing English-language repertoire available in Byzantine notation.
Trisagion School offers flipped-classroom online courses to train students in all the necessary skills to become a competent chanter. The comprehensive curriculum teaches vocal performance, Byzantine notation, the hymns of the Resurrectional Octoëchos, model melodies, the hymns of the Great Feasts, the use and application of the Typikon, and advanced papadic repertoire.
In addition to online group courses, the instructors also offer private lessons in their various areas of expertise, including Byzantine chant composition and repertoire in Greek and Spanish. Instruction is offered in various languages; see our Private Lessons page for more details.
Read more about the "why" of Trisagion School here: The Trisagion School Story.
Also review Trisagion School FAQ's.
FAQ's
Our classes are completely online. You can take them remotely from anywhere in the world with good Internet access.
You have access to all of your courses indefinitely.
No, no prior chanting experience is needed. We offer classes spanning from beginner to advanced.
Course descriptions and a list of courses that will be offered in our next term can be found in our Course Catalog. Classes that are offered consistently during certain terms state this in their description.
Yes. You must be 12 years or older to take our public courses. Younger students may take private lessons.
Live practice session days and times will be listed in the course description for each course when registration opens. ByzB 101 live sessions are usually offered on Tuesday and Thursday between 8-10 pm ET. Octoechos level classes often have the option of multiple days and times. Papadic classes schedule their practice sessions after registration closes based on group availability.
Standard courses are $225 (ByzB 100, Octoechos 200, Festal Menaion 300, Papadic 400). Automela 100 courses are $125, Typikon courses are $200, and Voice Lab is $125 when taken as a stand alone course and $75 when taken at the same time as another course.
You may test into a later class by recording the Capstone Project hymn of the prerequisite class on parallagi and melos. If you demonstrate mastery of the Capstone project hymns you will be placed in the next class. Contact us to discuss the particulars.
Private lessons are $25 per half-hour ($50 per hour). After you register on our Private lessons page, you will receive your account login information. Once you login you will see our private lesson calendar and teacher availability. You can sign up for lessons on the calendar. Lessons from the previous month are billed at the beginning of the next month.
Instructors
Gabriel Cremeens
Gabriel Cremeens works as the full-time Music Director at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his Certificate in Byzantine Music from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston in 2014 and subsequently lived in Athens, Greece, where he pursued private studies in Byzantine chant performance and composition. He has been contracted to compose scores, teach classes, and prepare musical publications for Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, AGES Initiatives, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Saint Raphael School, and the Liturgical Arts Academy. His compositions can be found on his website, www.englishmenaion.com.
Amy Hogg
Amy Hogg serves as the Protopsaltria at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Pittsburgh after chanting in the Antiochian archdiocese for over a decade. She is the co-host of the Byzantine Chant podcast, A Sacrifice of Praise, and serves on the board of the St. John of Damascus Society. She received her Byzantine chant certificate from Holy Cross Hellenic College in 2017 and the Figure Proficiency certification from Estill Voice International in 2021. She is the developer of the multi-modal Byzantine Beginnings materials and games. Amy teaches Voice Lab 100 and ByzB 100 classes at Trisagion School.
Samuel Herron
Samuel Herron began studying Byzantine Music under Leonidas Kotsiris in 2002. In 2006, he spent three months studying under Lycourgos Angelopoulos, Archon Protopsaltis of the Archdiocese of Constantinople, Protopsaltis of Hagia Eirini in Athens, and director of the Greek Byzantine Choir, which Samuel performed with as an isokrates while living in Athens. From 2015-2017, he studied under Fr. Romanos Karanos while attending Hellenic College. He currently serves as Protopsaltis of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Scottsdale, AZ and is director of the Dynamis Byzantine Ensemble.
Peter George
Peter George has served as lampadarios (leader of the left choir) of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Westwood, MA since 2009. In 2014, he earned his certificate in Byzantine Chant from Holy Cross Seminary as part of the program's first graduating class under Fr. Dr. Romanos Karanos. In addition to his chanting responsibilities at the Cathedral, Peter chants with the medieval Byzantine chant group Psaltikon, under the leadership of Protopsaltis and Musicologist Dr. Spyridon Antonopoulos, and the English-language Dynamis Ensemble, under the leadership of Protopsaltis Samuel Herron. As a Latin teacher in public schools since 2008, Peter is very excited to put his educational experience into teaching chant students at Trisagion School.
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