Lectures

John A. Graham lectures regularly on topics relating to the history and sources of Georgian sacred and folk music, as well as the modern revival of these repertories. His research focuses on the late nineteenth century, especially the use of a technology (music notation) to save the last remnants of the oral traditions of local music in Georgia.

Video samples of John’s talks and lectures may be seen below; a longer list of invited talks and conference presentations is at the bottom of the page. Links to published articles may be found on the publications page.

 

 

Lecture at University of Notre Dame (2019)

 

 

Lecture at Yale University (2016)

 

 

Lecture at the Library of Congress, together with the Anchiskhati quartet (2016)

 

 

Lecture at Wesleyan University, together with the Anchiskhati quartet (2016)

 

 

Lecture delivered at the 4th conference of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM) in Joensuu, Finland (2014)

 

 

Lecture in Tbilisi: “The Last Master Chanter: Georgian Orthodoxy and the Oral Chant Tradition” (2013)

 

 

Pre-Concert Lecture, Harriman Institute, Columbia University (2012)

 

 

Pre-Concert Lecture, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (2005). My introduction begins at minute 1:14.

 

 

 

Invited Talks

  • “Introduction to Georgian Chant Sources,” guest speaker at the Institute of Sacred Music at the University of Notre Dame, Jan. 21st, 2019
  • “Georgian Liturgical Polyphony in Practice: Performing Sacred Text,” Library of Congress American Folklife Center, a lecture-demonstration with the Anchiskhati Ensemble (Tbilisi, Georgia) as part of the Homegrown Concert Series. March 10th, 2016
  • “Hearing Melody, Singing Harmony: Structural Choices in Georgian Polyphonic Performance,” a lecture-demonstration with the Anchiskhati Ensemble (Tbilisi, Georgia), Yale University Music Department colloquium series, March 4th, 2016.
  • “Polyphonic Possibilities: The Elegance of the Parallel 9th in Georgian Chant Harmony,” Music Dept. Colloquium Series, Wesleyan University, March 2nd, 2016
  • “Georgian Orthodox Polyphonic Chant: The Genesis of a Performance Revival,” Fellows Luncheon Series for the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University, Sept. 24, 2015
  • “The Last Master: Georgian Orthodoxy and the Oral Chant Tradition,” lecture series of the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies (CEERES), University of Chicago, April 9, 2013
  • “The Life and Works of the composer Zacharia Paliashvili,” special lecturer for the Capitol Hill Chorale, Washington DC, October 27th, 2012
  • “Georgian Chant in the Digital Era,” Works in Progress Series of American Councils, Tbilisi, Georgia, November, 2009
  •  “Variation Technique in the Gurian Improvisational Trio genre,” Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, September, 2009
  • “Variation Technique in the Gurian Improvisational Trio genre,” for a graduate medieval counterpoint class taught by Prof. Rob Wegman, Princeton University, NJ, April, 2009
  • “The influence of Gramophone Era Recordings on the Current Performance Practice of Georgian Liturgical Chant,” Center for East Eurasian and Russian/Eurasian Studies, University of Chicago, April, 2007
  • “The Georgian Chant Revival,” Pan-Orthodox Society for the Advancement of Liturgical Music, Chicago, IL, 2006
  • “History and Revival of Georgian Chant,” lunchtime lecture series hosted by the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, 2006
  • “Issues in Music Research in Georgia,” with Malkhaz Erkvanidze at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, Botkin Lecture Series, Washington D.C, November 2005
  • “Issues in Music Research in Georgia,” with Malkhaz Erkvanidze as part of the lecture series of the Intercultural Institute, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, November 2005

 

Conference Presentations

  • “Monophony or Polyphony: The Short Life of the Byzantification Movement in the Georgian Chant Revival,” Society for Christian Scholarship in Music (SCSM) annual meeting, Boston University, Feb. 11, 2016
  • “Safeguarding Georgian Liturgical Chant: Practicalities and Challenges,” University of Notre Dame sponsored conference: Safeguarding Eastern Christian Chant, Rome, Italy, May 25th, 2015
  • “Reinventing Improvisation: Performing Georgian Liturgical Chant from Neume Notation,” American Musicological Society National Conference, Milwaukie, WI, November 8th, 2014
  • “Contested Harmonization: Authors, Editors, and Marginalia of the Kereselidze Manuscript Collection,” at the Ilia Abuladze Third International Conference, National Centre of Manuscripts, Tbilisi, Georgia, (in Georgian), November 25th, 2013
  • “Heard but not Sung: Voice-Crossing in West Georgian Chant,” at the Fourth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, Joensuu Theological Center, Joensuu, Finland, 2011
  • “Pencils and Erasers: Harmonizing Georgian Chant in the Early 20th Century,” Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony, V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2010
  • “Mnemonic Devices and the Art of Variation in Georgian Chant,” Fourth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony, V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2008
  • “Divergent Chant Traditions in Modern Caucasus Georgia: An Examination of the Earliest Recordings and the Influence of Western Choral Practice,” Second International Society for Orthodox Church Music, Joensuu, Finland, 2007
  • “Transcription Irregularities in Certain Gelati Monastery Chants,” Dartmouth College, NH, 2007
  • “Transcription Irregularities in Certain Gelati Monastery Chants,” Columbia University, NY, 2007
  • “Maxime Sharadze: Transcriptions and Publication in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Georgian Chant Preservation Movement,” at the V. Sarajishvili State Conservatoire, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2005

 

Guest Lectures

  • “Sonic Landscapes in Caucasus Georgia: Cathedral Acoustics and Round-Dance Sonorities,” guest lecture in Music, Film, and Media Studies, Professors Carlos Casas and Ted Levin, Dartmouth College, Feb. 26, 2015
  • “Religion in the Caucasus,” guest lecture in Blood, Sex, and Oil: The Caucasus, Professor Michael Reynolds, Princeton University, Fall 2013
  • “Comparative Polyphonies from Africa to Taiwan,” guest lecture in Music of Africa, Professor Kofi Agawu, Princeton University 2009