Media Release: Luce Foundation Awards St. Vladimir's Seminary $40,000 for Arvo Pärt Project

[Deborah Belonick <deborah@svots.edu>]

>*CONTACT—*“Arvo Pärt Project” **

>Deborah Belonick, Communications Director

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, NY • 914-961-8313
x363 • deborah@svots.edu

>*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—**May 16, 2012***

>* *

>Dear Editor,

We would appreciate publication of our press release in your print and Web
media.

Low-resolution photos of the story may be used from our
Website<http://www.svots.edu/headlines/listen-st-vladimirs-seminary-chorale 
-delivers-superlative-concert-nyc>and
credited to “St. Vladimir’s Seminary Archives.” You may request
high-resolution photos from Deborah Belonick,
mailto:deborah@svots.edu.<deborah@svots.edu.

>Thank you,

>SVOTS Advancement Team

*Luce Foundation Awards St. Vladimir’s Seminary $40,000 for **Arvo Pärt
Project***

*[SVOTS Communications, Yonkers, NY]* * *St. Vladimir’s Orthodox
Theological Seminary <http://www.svots.edu/about> is pleased to announce it
has received a $40,000 special planning grant from the Henry Luce
Foundation<http://www.hluce.org/home.aspx>that will assist the
seminary in laying the groundwork for a collaborative
project with the famed Orthodox Christian Estonian composer, Arvo
Pärt<http://www.arvopart.ee/en/Arvo-Part/biography>.
The seminary envisions the “Arvo Pärt Project” as including a unique
concert and lecture venture as well as publications about the composer’s
life and works. The Program Director for Theology at Luce Foundation, Lynn
Szwaja, recommended the funding of the project and informed the seminary of
the Foundation’s support in a letter dated May 1, 2012.**

Chancellor/CEO of the seminary, Archpriest Chad
Hatfield<http://www.svots.edu/team/very-rev-chad-hatfield>,
acknowledged the Luce grant with gratitude, saying, “Our seminary has been
shifting and rebuilding our musical program, including special events, over
the last few years. We have achieved amazing things and learned much in the
process. Now, with this generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation we
are well on our way to fulfilling our dream of special ventures centered
around the life and work of Arvo Pärt.”

Pärt is one of the world’s most celebrated and performed living compose rs,
and his uniquely developed musical genre, known as* tintinnabulation,* has
proved itself universally compelling; it has extended beyond the circles of
classical music and has included admirers in the pop and rock music
worlds.Moreover, there exists an inextricable connection between
Pärt’s musical
methodology and his inner creative impulse—with Orthodox Christian
spirituality at its core—and it is this connection that St. Vladimir’s
Seminary will explore and promulgate as it develops the project.

The project was initiated by two faculty members of St. Vladimir’s: Dr.
Peter C. Bouteneff <http://www.svots.edu/team/dr-peter-c-bouteneff>,
associate professor of Systematic Theology, and Dr. Nicholas
Reeves<http://www.svots.edu/team/nicholas-reeves>,
assistant professor of Liturgical Music. Both have been meeting personally
with Pärt and his wife and manager, Nora, to develop the project.

Remarking on the inspiration for the project, Dr. Bouteneff said, “On the
one hand, this collaboration makes such perfect sense. Yet the fact that it
is actually happening, that Arvo Pärt has welcomed us with enthusiasm,
feels like a miracle, and it is a profound honor to the seminary.”

Dr. Reeves spoke further about the development of the project, noting, “M any
concert goers know Arvo Pärt‘s music, and some realize a connection bet ween
his works and the spiritual life while others sense instinctively an
otherworldly character inherent in his compositions.

“This project with Arvo Pärt seeks to make clearer for all admirers of
these pieces their religious and, many times, Orthodox underpinnings, which
remain virtually unknown to the general public,” he concluded.

Both professors expressed their gratitude to the Luce Foundation, with Dr.
Bouteneff saying, “The Luce Foundation’s support of theological educati on
is some of the most creative and finely-tuned in the landscape of
philanthropy. With this grant they have helped put us squarely on the road
to a project of far-reaching significance and of great beauty.”

Further details about the Arvo Pärt project will be posted regularly on t he
seminary’s Website: www.svots.edu.

>*-END-*
>--
>Deborah Belonick
>Communications Director
>St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
>www.svots.edu
>914-961-8313 ext 363
>914-961-4507 FAX
>deborah@svots.edu