Roman Hurko, producer, was born in Toronto, Canada. Roman is a former member of the Canadian Opera Company ensemble. He made his debut as a stage director in 1996 at the Spoleto Festival, in Italy, with Handel’s Semele. (For more information please visit www.romanhurko.com) While directing opera, he simultaneously pursued an interest in composition and, in April of 2004, was elected to the Composers’ Union of Ukraine. He has composed the music for two plays with the Yara Arts Group at the La Mama Experimental Theater Club in New York City: A Light From the East (1991) and Explosions (1993). Since 2000, Roman has composed and recorded four major pieces of sacred music in the Slavic Byzantine Rite tradition: Liturgy 2000 (The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), Requiem for the Victims of Chornobyl (2001), Liturgy No.2 (2003), and Vespers (2005). His compositions have been broadcast internationally through the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network, Radio Ukraine International, as well as Princeton University Radio’s “Classical Discoveries” program. The recordings are distributed through his website www.romanhurko.com.