First-ever Online Cantors' Town Hall
On Sunday, November 23, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute will be hosting an online meeting for ALL Byzantine Catholic cantors in North America, to discuss:
- the state of our liturgical singing, and how we can foster and perfect it to the glory of God and the benefit of our Church
- current programs and planned publications of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute
- priorities for the coming year
Cantors from the Eparchies of Passaic, Parma, and Phoenix, the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, AND the Slovak Greek Catholic Church in Canada are all cordially invited. The meeting will be held on Zoom, and there is no need to preregister, though we ask all attendees to show their name and parish when they join. The Zoom link will be posted here on Sunday.
In order to meet the needs of cantors from across North America, this will be the schedule. All times are Eastern Standard Time:
2-3 PM: Open discussion for cantors from the Eparchy of Passaic and the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh
3-4 PM: "Main tent" discussion - if you can only attend part of the meeting, this is it!
4-5 PM: Open discussion for cantors from the Epachies of Parma and Phoenix, and the Slovak Greek Catholic Exarchate
Deacon Jeff Mierzejewski will be moderator, and provide a summary after the meeting. If you can't attend but have points you would like brought up, please send them to him at mci@archpitt.org by November 21.
Guest access to MCI classes
Several cantors have asked how they can learn special services (for example, for Christmas) without having taken the first year's worth of MCI classes.
In response, we have opened up all MCI classes to guest access. This means that you can look at and listen to all the materials for any of the classes, even if you haven't taken the prerequisites. Without formally enrolling, you won't be able to use quizzes and other tools to check your learning, nor will you be able to get feedback on your singing. But this way you can see what is in each class, maybe get your questions answered, and decide whether to take a class "for real."
To check out an MCI class as a guest, just create an ID at http://mci.archpitt.org/online (if you haven't already), log in, and click on the name of the class you are interested in.
Bonus hint: there is also a lot of easily overlooked material at the SInging the services link in the navigation bar on the left side of this page. Check it out!
New to this website?
Check out the YouTube video, Mysteries of the MCI Website, for a video tour!
(And for a bonus: Secrets of the Cantor's Companion.)
Voice Instruction and Coaching for Cantors
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute provides a basic course of vocal training as part of the online class, Introduction to Church Singing, and we also recommend that all cantors and prospective cantors find an opportunity to receive at least some individualized instruction and coaching from an experienced voice teacher.
I am pleased to announce that we now have THREE cantor / choir directors who are also experienced voice teachers, and willing to provide vocal instruction to cantors both in-person and online. See the article on finding a voice teacher for more information!
MCI Online registration is now open for 2026
Registratiion for the new year at the MCI is now open! The entire program can be completed in two and a half years. Our church needs cantors, and this program can help you develop the knowledge and skills needed to become one. Please check out the Classes page for more information, including registration forms.
MCI Office Hours and Cantor Chat
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute hosts office hours and a general live chat for cantors every Thursday on Zoom (except when it is the vigil of a great feast):
8:30 - 9 PM (Eastern TIme) Office hours (early)
9:00 - 10 PM (Eastern) Cantor chat / open discussion
10 - 10:30 PM (Eastern) Office hours (late)
If you're taking an MCI class OR just have questions, you can stop in for help or answers, early or late, without having to make arrangements in advance. To just chat with other cantors, stop in for the middle hour. I hope you can make it!
The schedule and Zoom link will be posted here on the MCI home page, top right under Upcoming Events. If I have to cancel office hours for any reason, that will be noted in the same place.
Hymnal update
Based on input from Bishop Milan of Parma, and after consultation with a number of other contributors, I have decided to split the draft hymnal into two pieces - one with the traditional "core" hymns for the liturgical year, in English and original languages on opposite pages; and one with the more recent hymns "for Sundays and feast-days." I believe this will be easier to use overall, and simpler than seasonal hymnals with duplicated material in each one.
Here are the two volumes, which I will be sending to the Inter-Eparchial Music Commission for review and consideration:
- Traditional Hymns of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church (189 pages) - booklet version
- Hymns for Sundays and Feast-days (137 pages) - booklet version
Use them as you like; please send me any suggestions you may have! Individual pages of both books can be printed from the Hymnal Project page, inserted into parish bulletins, etc. I plan to make recordings of each hymn or tune, and also provide harmonizations, as soon as the Music Commission has finished its review!
Seminary library seeks cantor papers
The library of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary is assembling a collection of music and papers from our cantors and choir directors since the founding of our church in the United States. These collections are being indexed and preserved so that that they can be used for research by scholars, and also for fostering our church singing in the future.
If your parish or a retired cantor you know has music, memorabilia, or recordings which might have a place in this collection, please contact Deacon Jeffrey Mierzejewski (412 735-1676, mci@archpitt.org) or library director Sandra Collins (412 32-8383). We also invite donations of materials from family and friends of our cantors who have reposed; this collection will serve as a permanent memorial to their labors.
Mailing List for Cantors
We have migrated the old MCI mailing lists to single list, cantors@groups.io. This new list should be more reliable than the one we have been using, and does NOT require the creation of a Yahoo ID. It also has more options for collaboration, including a wiki and post tagging.
This list will be used for both announcements, and general (moderated) discussion. If you wish to receive email ONLY for announcements, you can set your subscription options to "Special Notices Only."
To subscribe to the list, just go to https://groups.io/g/cantors
Documenting the history of our church music - how you can help
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute is working with the Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library to put together material to document the history of the liturgical music of the Byzantine Catholic Church, both plain chant and choral music. Please consider contributing to these two efforts:
In early 2026, we will also be distributing images of particular pieces of music or other memorabilia we would like to find or identify.
What is the Metropolitan Cantor Institute?
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute exists to support and foster liturgical singing in the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh. At the direction of our bishops, and in cooperation with our clergy and experienced cantors, the Institute trains and certifies cantors for the service of the church, prepares music and educational materials, and provides workshops and seminars in church singing.
The mission of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute:
To ensure that each parish in the Byzantine Catholic Church has a cantor who can lead the liturgical singing of the parish well, to the glory of God and in support of the prayer of the faithful.
For more information, click on Cantor Institute in the left-hand navigation bar on this page.