Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia

PRAx Presents: Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia

Choral virtuosity meets high technology in an extraordinary journey across time and space. Built in the sixth century, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul inspired centuries of composers with its unique acoustics.

But under the Ottoman Empire, music was banned, and the sound of the Hagia Sophia was forgotten — until now. Two scholars at Stanford University, art historian Bissera Pentcheva and computer music scholar Jonathan Abel, used advanced sound mapping techniques to create digital filters reproducing the distinctive acoustics of the Hagia Sophia.

At PRAx, those filters and creative speaker placements around Detrick Hall will bring Hagia Sophia to life in a program of Medieval Byzantine chant by the Portland-based Cappella Romana choir. 

Lightbox Happy Hour: Begins at 6 p.m.

Get warmed up for the concert at our Lightbox Happy Hour, featuring drinks and snacks for purchase alongside a live piano program by Jeffrey Varga, senior double major in Piano Performance (2025) and Geography & Geospatial Science (2026), including: 

• Franz Liszt
  • Annèes de Pèlerinage II, S.161
  • I. Sposalizio
• Claude Debussy
  • La cathédrale engloutie, L.117: X
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Etudes-tableaux in C minor, Op. 33 No. 3
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Prelude in B minor, Op. 32 No. 10
• Cecile Chaminade
  • Les Sylvains in D Major, Op. 60
• Edvard Grieg
  • Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, from Lyric Pieces, Op, 65