Church Choir Milan Rakic
About us
The Church Choir at the Serbian Orthodox Church Holy Trinity in Montreal has been active since the foundation of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In the early days of the foundation of the Serbian church in Montreal, the first choir was established thanks to Mr Lomic and Mrs Malin. It was well trained but short-lived. And then, from 1961 to 1962, Mr Ljubisa Popovic became the choir Kapellmeister. The Choir started to beautify Holy Liturgie and embellish the programs of special events.
In the fall of 1963, Mrs. Olga Popov and her husband, Mr. Stevan Bata Popov, founded a four-voice “a capella” choir (without instrumental accompaniment). They attracted about thirty members. The first kapellmeister of the choir was Mrs. Branka Dojcinovic, a pianist and piano teacher. In October 1964, the choir became a member of the “SSF – Serbian Singing Federation”, based in Chicago, USA. In the same year, the choir received the official name “Milan Rakic”, which was selected from the list of names proposed by the SSF.
After a few years, as the choir grown, SSF began to send us the Mokranjac Liturgy, the pearl of his musical work. The Choir Library now has the complete Mokranjac Liturgy ”Saint John Chrysostom ”. The choir is probably still one of the few Serbian church choirs in Canada to sing the sounds of this beautiful spiritual music. This year, in 2019, the Church Choir Milan Rakic is celebrating its 55th anniversary.
More than once during its existence, the choir encountered difficulties, the liturgical singing returned again to a vocalist cantillation. There was a break in continuity in the Choir’s existence.
The choir is still loyal to the Mokranjac Liturgy but due to the Choir’s small number of members, it is forced to sing easier arrangements of serbian church music. The choir always perseveres and regularly sings on Sunday at the Holy Liturgy.
You will find a more complete history of the choir here.