Among his many unique and invaluable contributions to the English speaking world of chanting, John Michael Boyer has intelligently nurtured and elegantly unraveled his latest pedagogical publication, Byzantine Chant: The Received Tradition A Lesson Book. After countless years of practical application and theoretical research, diverse musical explorations with Cappella Romana, whose founder and music director Dr. Alexander Lingas profoundly represented the art of Byzantine music during His Majesty King Charles III’s coronation, John has become one of the most academically astute and artistically brilliant composers, conductors, and pedagogues of Byzantine Chant in the Western world.

His book accumulates the knowledge of Byzantine music from the old and new theoretical manuals of chanting while also encompassing modern teaching methodologies, explanations of complex concepts and ideas, all presented through a systemic structure with well-organized material. Over the last two decades, the number of English-speaking chanters has exponentially increased, and unfortunately, there has been a critical lack of didactic materials available in English. This book bridges that existing gap, providing anyone who wishes to learn or expand their knowledge of Byzantine music with the means to do so.

Byzantine Chant: The Received Tradition A Lesson Book is suitable not only for beginners and intermediate-level students but even for experienced chanters and teachers who can benefit from it by revisiting known concepts through a fresher and more comprehensive source of information. Undoubtedly, this publication represents one of the most accurate and complete aids to learning Byzantine music in English. Every self-respecting chanter should have a copy of this book in their music library.

-Eleftherios Chasanidis, DMA Candidate, Protopsaltis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York City, NY