Ivan Moody

Composer and conductor Ivan Moody was active in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and much of his choral music was associated with that church. He was also a musicologist and educator. Moody began to gain attention as a composer in the 1980s, and one of his first major works, Canticum Canticorum I (written for The Hilliard Ensemble), found immediate success and remains one of his most popular compositions. In 1990, Moody's Prayer for the Forests won the Arts for the Earth Festival Prize and was later premiered by the Tapiola Choir in Finland. Many of Moody's compositions have been associated with the Orthodox church, but not all. He wrote concertos for several instruments, although he wrote few or no purely orchestral works. Moody was prolific, issuing four new compositions in 2023, the last year of his life. He died on January 18, 2024.