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Inaugural Northwest Orthodox Choir Directors Conference held in Spokane, Washington

September 5, 2026 · 1 min read

SPOKANE, WA – SEPTEMBER 2026 – The inaugural Northwest Orthodox Choir Directors Conference was held August 27 – 29 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Spokane, Washington. The conference featured guest presenter Subdeacon Stephen Ritchey, head director at St. Symeon Orthodox Church (OCA) in Birmingham, Alabama. The conference brought together 25 regional choir directors from throughout Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Canada, representing the Orthodox Church in America, as well as Serbian, Antiochian and Greek parishes. The conference offered sessions on directing, musicality, chanting and leadership.

“The goal of this conference was to support regional directors in learning and growing in their musical leadership abilities,” conference co-chair Elizabeth Jerrell explained. “The feedback we received from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Directors left feeling encouraged and equipped to implement what they had learned back at their home parishes.”

The event ended Saturday morning, culminating in a pan-Orthodox Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Church, with conference attendees singing as the choir, directed by Subdeacon Stephen Ritchey.

Participants ranged from…

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Παναγιώτης Νικολαΐδης

The conference sounds good. Especially since it ended with a pan-Orthodox Divine Liturgy and the principals themselves singing together under Ritchey. How many of the 25 were from Greek parishes?

Олександр Коваль

It is good that they gathered directors from different jurisdictions, even from Canada. I especially liked that they ended with a common pan-Orthodox Liturgy and the leaders themselves sang under the guidance of Ritchie. And approximately how many were from Greek parishes, they do not write?

Максим Шевченко

It's good that you mentioned the shared Liturgy — that's the best part. It seems that there were five or six men from the Greek parishes, because the majority came from the OKA and Serbian parishes. Do you sing in a choir yourself or are you just interested?

Тетяна Марченко

Yes, the common Liturgy was really the heart of everything. I heard that six came from Greek parishes, and the rest came mainly from OKA and Serbian parishes. Do you sing in a choir yourself or are you just interested, like Maxim?

Grace Thomas

Sounds like a solid weekend. Nice that it wrapped up with everyone singing together at the pan-Orthodox Liturgy under Ritchey. I wonder how many of the Greek parish directors actually made it up from Oregon or down from Canada.

Юлія Шевчук

Yes, the common Liturgy is always the strongest impression when the leaders themselves sing. From the Greek parishes, as far as I heard from an acquaintance from Portland, there were four. And you, Oleksandr, in which choir do you sing?