The Department of Chanting Art and Musicology was established by the decision (12 / 08.08.2013) of the Board of the Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies (VATS).

The goals of the Department of Chanting Art and Musicology are the research, study, recording, preservation and promotion of Byzantine and post-Byzantine musical culture, particularly of the Ecclesiastical Chanting Art, as preserved in the living oral tradition of the clerics and cantors, and as it also extends till today through its direct and indirect sources (musical manuscripts, theoretical writings and studies, historical evidence, patristic and secular literature, etc). At the same time, the main concern of this Department is the recording and study of the local chanting tradition of Magnesia and the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias, through the collection, classification and study of the relevant sources and evidences. In order to achieve the above objectives, the primary concern of the Department is the organization of a modern musical disk file, cassette, CDs, tapes and various audio recordings, photographs, residues, documents, manuscripts, and other sources for the research and study of Chanting Art in Magnesia, the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias, and beyond, and the establishment of a rich lending library of music and musicology.

In addition, the Department is willing to bring together, if possible, all the researchers, scientists and scientific institutions throughout the world, whose discipline or research interests are directly or indirectly related to the Chanting art, and create a global network of partnerships and interactions between them. Therefore, the Department seeks to cooperate and interact with the Institute of Byzantine Musicology of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, with the Chanting Art Programs of the University Ecclesiastical Academies, with the relevant Departments of the University Schools of Greece and abroad, with cultural organizations (Chanters Associations, Schools of Byzantine Music), etc.

In this perspective, the organization of conferences, symposia, workshops, training and educational seminars and all kinds of artistic events on the Chanting Art, as well as the participation of members of the Department in international scientific fora, is self-evident. The Department’s objectives also include training the staff to strengthen itself and the most complete realization of its objectives, as well as the publication of studies, doctoral theses, collective volumes, music collections, magazines, discs and other media, the construction and update of web sites and fields of communication and the dissemination of information or the results of these actions to any person or entity who may be interested.

The Director of the Chanting Art and Musicology Department was appointed by the above decision of the Board of Directors. Dr. Konstantinos Karagounis is an Assist. Professor of Byzantine Ecclesiastical Music at the Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, Chanter and Choir Director, member of the Board of Directors of The Byzantine Musicology Institute of  the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and former member of the Board of Directors of the Chanters Association of Volos “John Koukouzelis.”