Music by Gregory Kufchak

Homeland in Heaven, and Better than Light, by the MidOhio Chamber Players with the Apostolic Christian Church Choir, conducted by Gregory Kufchak ★★★★
I have long sought performances of the Zion’s Harp songs, the hymnal used by the Apostolic Christian Church. Kufchak has done a memorable service to this music by providing well-performed and orchestrated renditions of many of Zion’s Harp songs, as well as a few of his own compositions and other music. Many of the songs had an ACCA translation (?), not the translation that  I was used to with the ACCN hymnal. Orchestration tended to be one-dimensional, in that the orchestra essentially paralleled the 4 part harmonies, with only an occasional embellishment. Kufchak tended to limit the amount of brass used in these pieces, and probably for good reason since the trumpets were seriously marginal in their performance.  I would wish that Kufchak continue his work, as he is to be lauded for a great start in making public many Zion’s Harp songs. I hope that as he ages, his orchestrations develop a sophistication that complements rather than simply parallels the choir.