While Orthodox Recordings is new, it is not untried. These recordings below paved the way to begin this new label.
Seraphim Hanisch's first major step towards what is now Orthodox Recordings began with Little Spot Productions, with a landmark concert. Russian Symphonic and Choral Maestro Vladimir Gorbik presented a five-day masterclass uniting the seminarians of the three major Slavic Orthodox Seminaries in the Northeastern United States. This combined choir included some people whose singing experience was very minimal as well as bona fide professional singers. What Vladimir Gorbik achieved in five days was miraculous, and this recording "Hymns of Holy Russia in the New World" is the presentation of that concert. Maestro Gorbik said of Seraphim's work, "you have accomplished a miracle!" and the recording went into print. While an early attempt, this disc represented the finest Orthodox Church singing that had been heard in the United States in probably forty years. It proclaimed that Orthodox Christianity and her profoundly deep musical traditions were not dying out, but in fact were in a state of renaissance.
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You can listen to the recording here.
You can buy your own copy of this CD here.
Following the landmark Vladimir Gorbik Masterclass of March 2013, the masterclasses were developed into a program for choral conductors and singers at all levels, known as PaTRAM - the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute. As a representative of the results of this instruction, there came into the existence the Patriarch Tikhon Choir. This choir performed a three-city concert tour, premiering in New York City (shown above) and with followup concerts in Pittsburgh, PA and Washington, DC. Seraphim Hanisch recorded the entire tour. While not released in full, some of it may be seen and heard in video clips here and later in the longer video shown here. Presently, the choir is known as the PaTRAM Institute Choir, and it continues to stand as the finest ensemble singing Orthodox Christian Church singing in the United States.
​PaTRAM joined forces with the Boston-based company Sound Mirror for its subsequent recordings. Sound Mirror is arguably the finest on-site recording and production business in the world. For Seraphim, this was an opportunity; from this point he began working with Sound Mirror's engineers on subsequent PaTRAM recordings. However, before that, he went to apprentice and assist on this project, sung by the finest choir in the United States - Charles Bruffy's combined Kansas City Choral and Phoenix Chorale. Charles himself for the legendary Robert Shaw, whose version of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil is one of Seraphim's personal favorites. The Bruffy recording here went on to take three Grammy Award nominations, winning in the categories of Best Choral Performance and securing a Producer of the Year, Classical award for Blanton Alspaugh, its producer. This is an amazing recording, and Seraphim used every opportunity to increase his expertise in working on this record. Further, as the only actual Orthodox Christian actually present in the project, Seraphim coached the choir in some of the understanding of what Orthodox Church singing is designed to do. The choir took this and put it to beautiful use. This project was one of the finest honors to participate in.
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You can listen to this recording here.
Not long after the Rachmaninoff CD work was finished, Seraphim was approached to master a recording of the Illumini Men's Chorale, based out of the Seattle, Washington area. They had offered a concert at Pacific Lutheran University's Lagerquist Hall and wanted to see if the sound could be finished, but there were concerns about the quality of the sound and the hall and they didn't know if the recording would be usable. Seraphim succeeded at this, and the results are transparent and astounding.
Oktavism.com reviewed Music of Russia, noting its remarkable quality:
Illumni’s performance offers a beautiful contrast to Conspirare’s. While the Conspirare version is a wonderfully polished studio recording, Illumni’s has the electricity of a live concert, and the listener can hear how Glenn (Miller's) voice resonates in Larquerquist Hall, the space echoing back his power and volume. Illumni’s male voices make for a dark, brooding sound, in contrast to the ethereal tones of Conspirare, a mixed choir.
You can listen to this recording and buy it here.
Praise the Lord, All Ye Nations is the first recording PaTRAM made with Sound Mirror. It was a fantastic learning experience for everyone and it helped lay the foundation for subsequent works that have taken place since between PaTRAM and Sound Mirror. Seraphim apprenticed here and primarily studied the evolution of this project, learning from it many of the do's and do-not's associated with making a project of this type. This record is little-known in the PaTRAM discography, but it laid the foundations of PaTRAM's subsequent work, that of Benedict Sheehan who has become very prominent in the USA for many projects, and for Vladimir Gorbik's ongoing work in both the United States of American and the Russian Federation.
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You can listen to this album here at Apple Music.
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You can buy a CD of it here.
In 2016, PaTRAM and Vladimir Gorbik came together again, this time in Saratov, Russia, to make an all-male choir recording of the works of Pavel Chesnokov, the renowned Russian composer and THE master of choral music. His book The Choir and How to Direct it is of paramount importance to anyone involved in choral music. Likewise, his choral works reflect his profound understanding of the possibilities of a capella choral singing.
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Seraphim Hanisch was involved as a supporting engineer for the project due to customs-related difficulties, and he supported the engineering and recording of this project with Sound Mirror from beginning to end.
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This recording went on to become the first PaTRAM CD to get a Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance. It is superbly sung and it marked the terrific progress of PaTRAM from newcomer to true contender. recorded in stereo and five-channel SACD, this album is a must-listen.
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To hear it, click here.
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To buy your own copy, click here.
In the Orthodox Christian world, many groups are not professional, or at least they do not style themselves as such. In 2018 two monks from All-Merciful Saviour Monastery in Washington State approached Seraphim with the wish to make a recording of their singing. This was a project undertaken across 11 time zones and essentially halfway around the world, with Seraphim working in Moscow, Russia and the monks working from their chapel on Vashon Island. The results are amazing. Seraphim guided the singers through the recording process and helped them to refine their work. In the studio, this work was built into the form one hears now. This shows the ability to work in very versatile conditions and still achieve excellent, enjoyable results. It also reinforced the vision that is now offered in Orthodox Recordings: To focus on the beauty and prayer offered by regular people in their regular church environments. Seraphim Hanisch helped the monastics to be their best, and this recording shows that one need not be a "professional musician" to make professional level recordings. One just needs support and guidance. This CD is therefore considered by Seraphim to be among his favorite finished works.
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To listen, click here.
To buy a CD, click here.