About

Byzantine Beginnings is the brainchild  of Amy Hogg,  chanter and educator.  She taught ESL kindergarten, bilingual Spanish reading, first grade, Suzuki Piano, and now, Byzantine chant.  Disappointed by the lack of teaching resources for Byzantine chant in English, and inspired by a cooperative games based approach for teaching western music theory called Music Mind Games (MMG), Amy began creating Byzantine Beginnings in 2011. ​ At first the ByzB materials were direct adaptations or re-creations of MMG materials.  As Amy learned the notation, theory, and oral tradition more deeply, she began creating completely new materials and adapting methods from best practices that she encountered in second language acquisition, Montessori curriculum, Suzuki piano, as well as Music Mind Games.  

Theotokos of Tenderness, Completed by Amy Hogg, 2013

In late 2012 she and her family moved back to Pittsburgh and she began chanting with the St. George Byzantine Choir at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral.  She has studied chant with Dr. Nick Giannoukakis, Dr. Stephen Esper, and Richard Barrett, and Samuel Herron.  She studied voice with countertenor, Andrey Nemzer.   Amy earned her  Certificate in Byzantine Chant from Holy Cross School of Theology in May of 2017.  In addition to Byzantine Beginnings, she is on the board of the St. John of Damascus Society and is the co-host of the Byzantine chant podcast, A Sacrifice of Praise.