THE HISTORY OF THE CHOIR OF
ST. NICHOLAS OF JAPAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

March 2006

The choir of St. Nicholas was started by Georgia Haitas Jammine when the parish itself started in 1987. The parish began as a missionary church of the Orthodox Church of America, but in 1996, it came under the authority of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

Since its inception, the parish has had services conducted with both priest and choir chanting predominantly in English, with some parts in other languages, including Greek, Church Slavonic and Romanian.

Recently, the Divine Liturgy has been translated into Afrikaans by Father Kobus van de Riet , and set to music by Georgia Jammine, and services have been conducted for the Afrikaans parishioners in their mother tongue. Father Kobus uses the Afrikaans Liturgy in Eldorado Park where he is the parish priest.

The musical tradition of the church is mostly in 4-parts, drawing its material from the Orthodox Church in America, which is Russian in style. At times the choir also sings in Byzantine chant. It is always unaccompanied.

The choir, which rehearses weekly, has from time to time been invited to sing for various services in other parishes, and always welcomes the opportunity to share the Orthodox Church’s wonderful tradition with fellow parishioners.