On a special episode of Luminous, we feature a six-way discussion on the experience of African American Orthodox Christians and the encounter with existing musical traditions in the Orthodox Church.

Co-sponsored by the world-class vocal ensemble Cappella Romana and our own Institute of Sacred Arts, we brought together some key voices to help identify some bridges. A typical experience of Orthodox Christian liturgy will often bear stronger or weaker traces of Byzantine, Slavic, and/or Middle-Eastern church-music traditions. What happens in North America, especially for people with no particular ties to those cultures and their aesthetics? That question has been raised for more than a century for thousands of Western converts; it is raised in a particular way for an increasing number of African Americans bringing themselves and their histories to the Orthodox Church. What resonates, and why? What kind of exchange is possible?