SingCon 2025 Gathers in Perth Amboy
Over 100 participants assembled to pray and learn more about their faith, their liturgical worship, and their church singing traditions at the intercontinental fifth annual Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church Singing Conference, better known as SingCon, held in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, from 23 to 26 October 2025.
The gathering was hosted by the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Assumption Catholic School, thanks to the efforts of pastor Father Ivan Turyk, school principal Lisette Shumny, the Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, and the gracious parishioners, students, and faculty. Participants came from Philadelphia Archeparchy (39%), Toronto Eparchy (19%), Edmonton Eparchy (18%), Chicago Eparchy (8%), Parma Eparchy (5%), Stamford Eparchy (5%), several Eparchies in Europe, as well as other Eastern Catholic Eparchies and Roman Catholic Dioceses in the USA and Canada.
The daily schedule for SingCon 2025 included a selection of liturgical worship services, such as Vespers, the Hours, Divine Liturgy, and Parastas, as well as rehearsals and workshops. On the second evening, Hieromonk Herman (Majkrzak) presented the Keynote Lecture, entitled “The Cross of Artistic Excellence: Church Musicianship as an Ascetic Path of Salvation,” where he discussed ways to improve church singing in the UGCC, based on a proposed double-model for participation in the worship of the Church, following the examples of Martha and Mary.
Four workshops were offered this year: A) the services of Baptism, Crowning, and Funerals for parish cantors and clergy, led by Reader Ilya Galadza; B) the biblical foundation, theology, and hymnody of the services of Holy Week, led by Deacon Daniel Galadza; C) church musicianship, designed to help participants become technically more proficient cantors and group leaders, led by Dobrodijka Melita Mudri-Zubacz and Namisha Greening; and D) the complex melodies of the Oktoechos used during Vespers and Matins, led by Deacon Cyril Kennedy and Damein Zakordonski.
After five SingCon gatherings since 2018 aimed at preserving, promoting, and praying the church singing tradition, the work of SingCon has come to be appreciated far beyond those who attended the annual gatherings. During the Town Hall, moderated by Larisa Galadza, SingCon was referred to as a “movement” by Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, who pointed to the need to preserve and foster our church singing traditions, striving for excellence in a spirit of love and Christian fellowship. With this goal in mind, Melita Mudri-Zubacz presented the preliminary work of the SingCon organizing committee, begun earlier this year, to develop a curriculum to teach church singing in the UGCC, which is anticipated to be launched in the near future.
On Saturday evening, Bishop Bohdan of Parma Eparchy presided at the Hierarchal Vigil, which included Litia for the feast of the holy Great-martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer of Thessalonica, as it fell on Sunday. The culmination of the conference was the celebration of the Sunday Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, presided at by Metropolitan Borys of the Philadelphia Archeparchy, who preached on the Gospel of the raising of the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11–17) and spoke to the gathered parishioners about how Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church traditions have been preserved for the church in parishes that worship predominantly in English.
Thanks to the sponsorship of various benefactors and generous donations from the Philadelphia Archeparchy, the Parma Eparchy, the Edmonton Eparchy, the Archpriest Roman Galadza Legacy Fund, Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Assumption Catholic School, conference costs could be subsidized and reduced for participants. In particular, fifteen scholarships were offered to students and young adults attending the gathering.
The sixth annual SingCon is being planned for September 10–14, 2026, and will take place at Saint Elias Church in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The Keynote Speaker will be Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway. Further information will be provided in the coming months.
For videos, pictures, and audio recordings from this year’s gathering, and more information about future events and current resources, visit the SingCon website (https://ugccmusic.com/) and its social media presence on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ugccmusic), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ugccmusic/), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@singconugccmusic), and SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/ugcc-music).
