Programs
Byzantine Music
Byzantine Music is the sacred music used in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was developed in the early days of the Church. It was further developed through the centuries especially during the Byzantine Empire. However, throughout time it has remained monophonic, where all the chanters follow one melodic line. It is also strictly only for the human voice hence no musical instruments are used in our Church. Byzantine Music is based on eight tones (ήχους) which are used sequentially on an eight week cycle. Each tone has its own tonal qualities.
Dimitri Koubaroulis
Dimitri Koubaroulis, is our protopsaltis (lead chanter) of the parish of the Resurrection at Kogarah and teacher of Byzantine Chant and folk music with a special interest in the music of the Eastern Mediterranean. He is the founder and director of Melisma Ensemble, a Sydney-based music group specialising in these traditions. Dimitri studied music in Greece and Australia and holds a music teacher diploma in Byzantine Chant from Filippos Nakas conservatorium (Athens, Greece). He plays the oud, the kanonaki (qanun) and other string instruments of the region. In his day job, he leads engineering teams in the software technology space.
Harry Mavrolefteros
Harry Mavrolefteros was born on 13th November 1987 in Sydney; his father Kyriacos having been born in Cyprus and migrated to Australia after the Turkish occupation of 1974 and his mother Katerina (nee Kapodistrias) born to Mytilinean migrants.
Harry is the oldest of four children and attended both Saint Spyridon College and Cranbrook High School. At university, Harry studied a Bachelor of Commerce with a Major in Finance and Modern Greek. During this time, Harry was heavily involved in and eventually elected President of the UNSW Greek Society in 2007 and then President of the National Union of Greek Australian Students in 2010. In this time Harry met his now wife Tania and they were married in 2014.
Harry received a Diploma in Byzantine Music around this time, chanting at the Church of St George in Rose Bay from 2011 to 2016 before starting at the Church of the Resurrection in Kogarah on the left analogion from 2018.
Byzantine Classes at Kogarah
Byzantine Classes at Kogarah in 2025 run every Tuesday between 6-7:30pm, under the auspices of the Byzantine Music School of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. They form part of a four-year program of study leading into a Certificate in Byzantine Chant, awarded by the School. Registrations are open between January and February each year. Lessons run between March and November with the typical school holiday breaks. For more information, contact the parish or the teacher of the course, Dimitri Koubaroulis.