19th July, 2019
Dear Signatories of the Petition,
We are pleased to inform you that the Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae can continue at the University of Copenhagen, where the project was founded in 1931. The notice of dismissal sent to the present project director, associate professor Christian Troelsgård, was revoked a few days ago, and an agreement has been made, according to which Prof. Troelsgård may for the next 3 years continue his Byzantine chant research activities, with the possibility of prolongation, provided that sufficient external funding has been raised before that time. His position, though, will be only part time (50%). As members of MMB’s Editorial Board, together with Prof. Troelsgård, we wish to thank all of you who have protested against the discontinuation and consequent loss of a precious research tradition, and have helped us to explain to the university authorities the true value of the MMB. Your support has been precious. MMB’s Editorial Board looks forward to continuing its collaboration with all the scholars who are engaged in research on Byzantine chant, especially as we seek new ways of sustaining the project in the longer term.
Yours sincerely,
ON BEHALF OF THE MMB EDITORIAL BOARD
Prof. Nicolas BELL (Trinity College, Cambridge)
Prof. Francesco D’AIUTO (University of Rome “Tor Vergata”)
Prof. Sysse Gudrun ENGBERG (University of Copenhagen, emerita)
Prof. Christian HANNICK (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, emeritus)
Prof. Christian THODBERG (University of Aarhus, emeritus)
Prof. Gerda WOLFRAM (University of Vienna, emerita)
and
Prof. John D. BERGSAGEL (former Director of MMB; University of Copenhagen, emeritus)
Prof. Tore Tvarnø LIND (secretary of MMB; University of Copenhagen)