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Matushka Doreen Bartholomew Receives St. Romanos Award

July 23, 2026 · 1 min read

Now in the Diocese of the South, Living in Retirement in Florida

Matushka Doreen Bartholomew’s energy and influence have furthered the music programs of the Orthodox Church in America in a career spanning more than 35 years.

Her introduction to Orthodoxy occurred in Japan: she comments that “Japanese was my first liturgical language.” When she and her husband, Fr. John, returned to the US, she served for many years as choir director in parishes of the Diocese of NY and NJ – both St John the Theologian Church in Shirley, NY, and Our Lady of Kazan Church in Sea Cliff, NY, where she taught, sang and conducted the choirs for bilingual services in Slavonic and English.

While pursuing a full-time career in NYC, she brought her business skills to a full range of church musician roles. Serving as a Co-Chair of the Diocesan Commission on Liturgical Music, she spearheaded, organized, and directed in-person and on-line workshops for church musicians throughout the Diocese. She personally prepared and published numerous service books, with special focus on large-print publications, making them widely available on-line.

In the pan-Orthodox Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir, she served as…

Source: Site: Diocese of the South · Read the full story →

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Vangjel Kristo

Good to hear about Matushka Doreen. I was impressed that she first learned Japanese as a liturgical language – it shows how far she has come before becoming a choir director at Shirley and Sea Cliff. I wonder if the large books he published with large paper are still used in our diocese.