top of page
Melkite Musings
Apr 279 min read

Interview: Melkite Archon Protopsaltis, Fr. Romanos Osta

Fr. Romanos Al Osta is the Archprotopsalte of the holy see of Antioch of the Greek Melkite Church. He holds a diploma in Byzantine Music from the conservatory of Yorgos Foudoulis and a post graduate diploma in Byzantine Musicology from the conservatory of Athens. He chanted in several churches in Greece while he was studying there. He also holds a Bachelor in History from the Lebanese University as well as working on his Master's in Medieval History. He taught in the National Lebanese Conservatory from 2004 till 2023 and was the instructor of Byzantine Music and Greek Language. He was also the First Cantor and Director of the Choir of the St Anne Patriarchal Seminary, as well as the leader of the Choir and First Cantor of the Parish of the Annunciation in Raboueh, Lebanon.

Want to read more?

Subscribe to melkitemusings.com to keep reading this exclusive post.

4 comments

4 Comments

Wakaernai
Apr 29

Thank you for this article. There is a lot worth pondering, unfortunately I will fall into the temptation of addressing one of the small but hot-button issues in it.


At least in the U.S. Greek Orthodox Diocese, there are a good number of women learning traditional chant and you see singing (and a few big names: Photini Downie Robinson; there's also the lead chanter of the Cathedral in Pittsburgh - one Amy Hogg). I'm even told that a number of them are tonsured psaltai (ab order well below even subdeacon mind you), though I have no first had experience of this. (I'm also told this is also the case in Greece but less prevalent)


The recordings of the convent of…

Like
Melkite Musings
Melkite Musings
May 02
Replying to

One of the Choirs that Fr. Romanos (the interviewee) founded is an all-female choir, and they are frequently in the prayer evenings that the male choir chants in. You can follow their news and videos here: https://www.facebook.com/PanayiaMelkiteChoir

Like
jabyad
Apr 28

I found the 7th question particularly helpful to me. My daughter was blessed a cantor before I put much thought into it- I had grown up in Roman Catholic Churches where the music was different. After, some people said that what we accepted was scandalous, only men should chant. But I think here he clarifies that there is a place for female cantors within the church that does not imply they could be ordained. thank you for this amazing interview!

Like
Melkite Musings
Melkite Musings
May 02
Replying to

Indeed, I found his answer particularly well-balanced, non-political, and very inclusive yet faithful to the Church. It pays to have a solid grasp of Church history and the way things are! It was such a pleasure to go through this interview.

Like
bottom of page