Every year, shortly before April 9 when the Finnish church reformer Mikael Agricola (ca. 1510-1557) is commemorated, students from the Higher School of Printing and Media Technologies in St. Petersburg visit Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church in Vyborg. The group of 30 bachelor’s and master’s students were led by Assistant Professor Olga Starkovskaya, Cand. Sc. (Philology). Olga is a member of St. Mary’s Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg.
Vyborg church member and musician Darya Shkurlyatyeva shared with the group about the history of Finnish as a written language, the first Finnish primer, and the first Finnish printing house. She also introduced them to the ELCIR Hymnal, the Church of Ingria Magazine, and a recently published collection of music pieces for an ensemble of 5-string kantele’s (a Finnish national music instrument.)
Darya also presented on the activities of Mikael Agricola Choir which she directs and the opening of the church’s Mikael Agricola Bible Museum which is to take place on the Museum Night May 18. The presentations were followed by a music tour called “Music in the Church, in School and at Home.” The tour included a demonstration where Darya played the church’s two pipe organs, a kantele, and a psalmodicon.
