Alexander Lingas

Photo credit: Tori Ava Photography

Alexander Lingas, Music Director and founder of Cappella Romana, is Professor Emeritus of Music at City, University of London, and a Research Fellow of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Cambridge, UK). Having hosted him as the Spring 2023 Artist in Residence, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York, subsequently appointed him Professor of Music and Associate Director of its Institute of Sacred Arts. Dr. Lingas completed his doctorate on Sunday matins in the rite of Hagia Sophia at the University of British Columbia and then, with the support of an SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship, moved to Oxfordshire to study theology with Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. From 1997 to 2021 he was a Fellow of the University of Oxford’s European Humanities Research Centre. His present work embraces not only historical study but also ethnography and performance. His awards include Fullbright and Onassis grants for musical studies in Greece with cantor Lycourgos Angelopoulos, the British Academy’s Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship, research leave supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the St. Romanos the Melodist medallion of the National Forum for Greek Orthodox Church Musicians (USA). In 2018 His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, bestowed on him the title of Archon Mousikodidáskalos. In 2023 he formed and directed the Byzantine Chant Ensemble for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.