The choir was named after Saint Ephraim, the Syrian (306-373), who was considered by his contemporaries as ‘the harp of the Holy Spirit’, having been credited with guiding a great number of people towards the right way through his chants and hymns. The main goal of Saint Ephraim Male Choir has three directions: one is to research, present, and spread the vocal heritage of Byzantine-rite Christian music, both in Hungary and abroad. Secondly, to nurture the rich Hungarian musical literature for male choruses (Liszt, Bartók, Kodály, Ligeti) and thirdly, to promote valuable contemporary choral works.

The choir’s international success started in 2006, in Poland, at the Hajnowka International Orthodox Church Music Festival, where Saint Ephraim Male Choir had won the first prize in the professional chamber choir category, having become the first and last choir of non-Slavic origin to win. This prestigious award has marked the way to international appearances, having been invited to much-acclaimed festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival in the UK, Fez Festival in Morocco, World Sacred Music Festival- Ketevan, India, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival – Germany, Donaufest-Ulm – Germany, Musik Festspiele Saar -Germany, Festival de Royaumont – France, Festival d’Auvers sur Oise – France, Ravenna Festival – Italy, Janacek May Festival – Czech Republic, Dvorák Festival – Czech Republic, Sakralnej Festival Gdynia – Poland, Gdansk Spring Festival – Poland, Concentus Moraviae Festival – Czech Republic, St.Petersburg Spring Festival – Russia.

Over the years, Saint Ephraim Male Choir has also performed in concert halls and churches in cities as Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Fujairah, Ljubljana, Montevideo, Moscow, Paris, Bratislava, Rome, Saint Petersburg, Tirana, Helsinki, and Warsaw.

Obviously, the choir also regularly performs at Hungary’s most prestigious festivals, being a permanent participant of the Budapest Spring Festival, Arcus Temporum Festival, Ars Sacra Festival, Valley of the Arts, and Zemplen Festival. The choir nurtures a strong relationship with the church, often appearing at masses and religious musical events.

So far, 10 albums have been released, one of which, called Byzantine Mosaics, received the Supersonic Award in 2010 in Luxembourg.

Over the years, Saint Ephraim Choir has hosted many international stars in their concert series in Hungary, including names such as Abeer Nehme, Sister Marie Keyrouz, Nektaria Karantzi, the Moscow Patriarchal Choir, the Russian Orthodox Soloists, Optina Pustyn Male Choir, Konstantia Gourzi and Opus21 Music Plus, as well as Dragoslav Pavle Aksentijevic. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.