Choir

Revival of the Choir at St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Church

In conjunction with the reality that the older generation of parishioners are gradually curtailing their active participation in parish activities, there became a great need to attract and more actively pursue the inclusion of the new immigration. This opportunity came with the possibility of reviving the church choir.

At the 2002 annual parish General Meeting, our parishioners adopted the resolution to again organize the choir, and the responsibility was placed upon Mr. Joseph Jaskir (deceased) and Mr. Petro Tereschuk. With the arrival of choir director Mr. Roman Kucharskiy, the choir members gathered for their first practices. Shortly thereafter, the choir participated in singing their first Divine Liturgy.

During the first six years of its renewed existence, the choir has participated in not only celebrating the Divine Liturgy, but also at numerous festivals celebrating the Independence of Ukraine held at the Ukrainian National Home of Trenton; at the caroling competions that take place at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral in Philadelphia, PA; singing at the Taras Shevchenko festivals and at the celebrations of the Feast of St. Josaphat, the patron saint of our parish.

The pride of our choir was its soloist, the recently departed Stefan Shilkevitch whose voice captivated and charmed all who would hear him sing.

We earnestly wish that our choir be complemented and expanded by the younger and very talented members of our parish. There are many such individuals in our parish, and we can only hope that they feel at least a slight desire and inclination to help in the service to God and to the people of our church.