Cantor
Pan’i Alissa West
Cantoring at Our Lady of Perpetual Help is Pan’i Alissa’s first foray into Byzantine liturgical music. A cradle Roman Catholic, she was introduced to the Byzantine Catholic faith while dating a young Paul West. Her future mother-in-law brought her to her first Divine Liturgy (all in church Slavonic) on Pentecost Sunday. Needless to say, she did not sing at all that day.
Though she was not introduced to the Byzantine tradition until adulthood, Alissa is no stranger to music ministry. The daughter of the Directors of Music at her home church, she grew up in the choir loft of St. Mary Magdalen Church in Millville, NJ singing in several choirs, cantoring, and playing her flute in accompaniment ensembles.
Making the transition from the RC music tradition to the tradition of Byzantine chant was made easier by Alissa’s formal music training. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy with a concentration in flute performance from Elizabethtown College, PA, and practiced Music Therapy for more than a decade before rerouting life while Fr. Paul attended Seminary. Over the years, Alissa has performed in many vocal and instrumental ensembles at both small and large venues, her favorite being Carnegie Hall. Pan’i Alissa is happy to share her love of music with the congregation at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Pan’i Alissa enjoys spending time with her husband, Father Paul, and their two children, cooking, baking, crafting, laughing, playing games, making music, and engaging in general hilarity and good-natured mischief.