I began developing Byzantine Beginnings materials over a decade ago. The focus was on tactile materials and games to teach Byzantine notation to children. Over time, I saw that the greatest need in our churches was providing training to new and already serving adult chanters. Due to this need, I developed the Byzantine Beginnings online classes and taught those independently for a few years. Then, in 2020, Samuel Herron, Gabriel Cremeens and I teamed up to found the Trisagion School of Byzantine Music, where we offer beginner, intermediate and advanced chant classes. That first year I reworked and revamped my old curriculum and built four classes—ByzB 101, ByzB 102, ByzB 103 and Voice Lab 100. I spent hundreds of hours writing lessons, recording videos, recording hymns, and creating images.
Thankfully, Trisagion School is flourishing. I am training a new teacher to assist me with the large teaching load in my beginner classes as I’m usually teaching 60 – 80 students each term. These classes are open to students ages 12 and up, and while some youth thrive in our adult classes, classes specifically for teenagers would work much better.
Which is why I’m excited to announce that this fall, I am circling back to where I started! Trisagion School will begin offering beginner chant classes for homeschoolers, ages 12 – 16. ByzB Youth Classes will follow a more traditional school calendar, with fall and winter terms. Classes will be 10 weeks long with a 1 week break in the middle. The ByzB Youth classes will cover similar content as the adult ByzB classes but will be adapted to better serve the needs and strengths of our youth. There will have more structure and support for younger learners and the content will be spread out a bit more. Students will still complete the initial instruction via the online classroom materials—reading lessons, watching videos, and listening to audio recordings—but students will meet in their online practice sessions twice a week for 45 minutes. Class sections are limited to 12 students allowing students to be with the same small group of their peers for 10 weeks. Upon completion of the ByzB Youth Classes, serious students may continue their studies, skipping the adult ByzB 100 classes and moving directly into the Octoechos 200 level.
For more information, go here. Registration will open in early May.
