A memorial service of spoken words and musical performances will take place Thursday, Jan. 24, in Crouse College's Setnor Auditorium in remembrance of Syracuse University music graduate student Simeon Georgiev Popov, 27, a native of Sofia, Bulgaria, who died Jan. 20. Doors will open at 12:30 p.m.; the service will begin at 1 p.m.
The Setnor School of Music Trombone Choir, under the direction of William Harris, will perform the prelude: an excerpt from Camille Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3.
Carole Brzozowski, interim dean of SU's College of Visual and Performing Arts, will offer welcoming remarks, followed by the hymn "O God Our Help in Ages Past."
The Rev. Thomas V. Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel, will then offer the invocation and a reading.
Among the speakers will be Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw; Vice Chancellor and Provost Deborah A. Freund; Joseph Downing, director of the Setnor School of Music; Patricia Burak, director of SU's Slutzker Center for International Services; and John Mercer, acting dean of SU's Graduate School.
Three friends of Simeon will offer words of remembrance: Sean View, a teammate on the Syracuse Club Soccer Team; childhood friend and countryman Lubomira Kalaptchiev; and close friend and fellow graduate student Christopher Notarthomas.
Musical selections will include "Bulgarian Song" by Peter Christokov, performed by violinist Petia Manolova of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra; Anton Dvorak's Adagio from the New World Symphony, performed by the Syracuse University Orchestra under the direction of James Tapia; Tomas Louis de Victoria's "Ave Maria," performed by the University Singers, directed by G. Burton Harbison; Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, performed by the Degas Quartet; and Paul McCartney's "Yesterday," sung by The Mandarins, members of the Setnor School Women's Choir.
The closing hymn will be "How Do We Name Our Sorrow?"-written by Setnor School Director Downing in memory of Popov.
The service will conclude with the benediction, offered by the Rev. Wolfe, and the selection "God is Our Righteousness," performed by Setnor School faculty members Christopher Marks (organ) and Kenneth Meyer (guitar).
Afterward, all in attendance are invited to a reception on the second floor of Crouse College.
Public parking for the service is in the Irving Parking Garage.
