The Synodal School of Liturgical Music was founded in 1992 to train choir conductors, singers, and church readers in the liturgical music tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, focusing primarily on the parishes of the Russian diaspora. The school offers courses in music theory, sight-singing, Church Slavonic, church music history, liturgics, liturgical performance practice, voice, and choral methods. It is based at the Holy Dormition Convent in Nanuet, New York.

Father Andrei Papkov is a Russian Orthodox Archpriest and Founder and President of the Synodal School of Liturgical Music of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). He holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and is the chairman of the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission (ROCOR).

Father Andrei Papkov is a Russian Orthodox Archpriest and Founder and President of the Synodal School of Liturgical Music of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). He holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and is the chairman of the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission (ROCOR).

Peter Martins was the Ballet Master in Chief of New York City Ballet for 35 years, the only person to preside over the company as long as its founder, George Balanchine. Born in Denmark, Martins began his association with NYCB in 1967, when he was invited to dance the title role in George Balanchine’s Apollo during the company’s appearance at the Edinburgh Festival. He then performed as a guest artist for three years before joining the company as a principal dancer in 1970. Prior to his retirement from dancing in 1983, Martins performed a wide variety of roles and was lauded for his outstanding partnering skills and noble stage presence. In 1981, Martins was named Ballet Master, a title he shared with Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras. From 1983 to 1989, he served as Co-Ballet Master in Chief with Robbins, running day-to-day operations. He assumed sole directorship of the company in 1990 and was also Chairman of the Faculty of the School of American Ballet, NYCB’s official school. In 2000, founded the New York Choreographic Institute.
Martins began his career as a choreographer in 1977. He has created nearly 90 ballets set to music by composers as diverse as Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Wynton Marsalis, and John Adams. His full-length productions for New York City Ballet include The Sleeping Beauty (1991), Swan Lake (1999), Romeo + Juliet (2007), and La Sylphide (2015). Martins’ autobiography, Far From Denmark, was published in 1982. Among other awards, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark made him a Knight of Dannebrog, a Knight of the First Order, and, in 2013, a Commander of the Knights of Dannebrog, Denmark’s highest civilian honor. In 2008, the French government made him a Commander in the Order of Arts and Letter. That same year, Martins was inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s Hall of Fame, in Saratoga Springs, New York.