Hieromonk Photius (name in the world Vitaly Mochalov) was born in the city of Gorky on November 11, 1985 in a non-religious family.

The childhood of Vitaly Molchanov

The childhood of the future priest passed under the "sign of music", he was drawn to singing, but, despite this, for a long time the boy was not taken to music school, citing the fact that he has crooked fingers. Having overcome difficulties, he was able to graduate from school in the piano class. At the same time, Vitaly studied solo singing and even performed in an ensemble. In his dreams, he saw himself as a composer writing music for films. After in adolescence his voice began to break, solo performances became impossible and he began to sing in the church choir. It was from this moment that his churching began. And at the end of nine classes he entered School of Music where one course studied musical theory.

Vitaly's parents emigrated to Germany in 2002, he moved with them, because of which he stopped attending a music school, but began to study the organ. In the city of Kaiserslautern, he began to earn money by playing at Protestant and Catholic services, and took part in concerts.

Hieromonk Photius

When Vitaly was 20 years old, in 2005 he returned to Russia, the city of Borovsk. He decided to become a monk and went to the Holy Pafnutevsky Monastery, located in the Kaluga region. The decision was personal, it did not depend on external circumstances. After taking the tonsure, he continued to study music, improved his voice, and took vocal lessons. Fotiy took several lessons from V. Tvardovsky in Moscow, the teacher himself came to the monastery and conducted classes. At the same time, he was interested foreign languages, photography, computer layout, sang in the church choir.

Photius took Ionic tonsure in 2010, and three years later he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk.
Being a resident, he recorded two discs, took part in performances, in particular in the Kaluga Philharmonic.

Now Photius is the regent of the Holy Pafnutev Monastery in the city of Borovsk.

Vitaly Mochalov applied for the Voice project in 2013 and was invited to the casting. But he did not dare to go for a blessing, so he did not participate in the competition. In general, he did not immediately decide on this event, since he believed that there was no place for a clergyman there. Over time, he gained courage and decided for himself that "Voice" is, first of all, a competition, and only then a show. The confessor and the metropolitan, after two years of persuasion, released Photius, in 2015 he again applied and received permission.

According to the priest, his task was to win the competition, while not tarnishing the honor of the monastery, the dignity of the entire church. The rector and spiritual father prayed for him while the competition lasted. Photius associates participation in the project with a mission that calls people to perfection and spiritual growth with the help of opera music and romances. At a blind audition, he sang an aria from Eugene Onegin and was immediately liked by the judges. Having got into the team with Leps, he was able to reach the final and win the competition. The next day, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia congratulated Photius on his victory.

For some time, the hierarchy did not give the hieromonk permission for subsequent performances and participation in concerts, but more recently it became known that the blessing was given and the finalist of the show "Voice" Fotiy will go on tour with concerts in the cities of Russia and will record his disc in the studio.
Vitaly Mochalov intends to continue to engage in creativity, but according to him, he came into the world of music as a priest, a priest and will leave.

Hieromonk Photius "Monologue"

Hieromonk Photius" Goodnight, gentlemen"

Hieromonk Photius and Grigory Leps "Labyrinth"

Father Photius "Lensky's Aria"

“I had a personal cat Zaichik, but he interfered with everyone”

I was invited to his home. Him big collection icons, as in the Tretyakov Gallery.

- Were you impressed by this collection, or did it seem wrong to you to collect icons as a collection?

Grigory Leps is a believer, he has many questions, he is a searching person. I don't think he just collects icons without faith.

- Did you somehow influence his spiritual growth?

He is a self-sufficient person, and I have no right to somehow influence him. I avoided in every possible way the moments when one could read some kind of moralizing. I think that Grigory Leps already understands everything perfectly, it's just that his way of life does not always allow him to be pious. And why be pious for show? After all, everything should be in the heart, this is your personal relationship to God.

- But another mentor, Basta (Vasily Vakulenko), for example, took your blessing.

Yes, I took it all the time. He also served at the altar in his time, he was spiritually savvy. I had good, friendly relations with all the mentors. Alexander Gradsky, for example, did his best to help, treated me objectively, said that I didn’t have the best best voice on the project, but in general my image is pleasing to the viewer - and they will vote for me.

- Did you have your favorites among the participants?

I was rooting for Renata Volkievich, who came to the competition from Poland. She has very good vocal abilities. We became friends with her. I also really liked Vitold Petrovsky and Armen Avjan, who also had great chances to reach the final.

- Could you refuse to perform some song?

Could. But I did not refuse, I took everything for granted. Since such a song was given, it means that it is the will of God. Although many of the songs were not in my usual genre.

The last three performers on the project were awarded certificates for a trip for two to France. Are you planning to use it?

He lies with me. The trip is designed for three days, but it must be coordinated with the metropolitan.

- If you decide who you will take with you on a trip, maybe a friend, Father Macarius?

He will also need to write a petition. This will complicate the situation. Maybe I'll go alone, or maybe I'll take my mother with me.

- You received as a gift the keys to a new car. Have you already received it?

The car hasn't left the assembly line yet. There was a presentation on the program.

- Will it be your personal car?

I took a vow of non-acquisitiveness, so if I am called to give it to the monastery, I will do so. They won’t call me, I will use it, I have a license to drive a car.

- Father Photius, what are you dreaming about?

My dreams are quite realizable. Once I dreamed of a piano, a car, and also a ride around America. All this is done...

We stay for the evening service. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, built by Tsar Fedor back in 1586, has excellent acoustics. The monastery choir sings. The voices of the monks, reflected from the ceiling, envelop each of the worshipers. And external world disappears somewhere.

One of the parishioners, nodding at Father Photius, says quietly: “From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Is it because the Russians differ from the Europeans because they vote not for a shocking woman with a beard, but choose a modest priest with an angelic voice?

Hieromonk Fotiy - organizing a concert, ordering artists on the official website of the agency. To organize performances, tours, invitations to corporate holidays, call +7-499-343-53-23, +7-964-647-20-40

Welcome to the official website of the agent of Hieromonk Photius, a priest who became famous for his victory in the fourth season musical project"Voice". The tenor, who before his tonsure bore the name Vitaly Mochalov, was born on November 11, 1985 in Nizhny Novgorod. The future monk studied piano and vocals at the city music school. As a child, Vitaly sang in the school and church choir, dreamed of becoming a professional composer.

Creative achievements

At the age of 15, the guy entered the Nizhny Novgorod Music College, but studied there for only a year, as he moved to Germany with his family. Living in Kaiserslautern, Mochalov continued to study music: he sang, mastered playing the organ. At the age of 20, the young man decided to become an Orthodox priest. To this end, in the middle of the 2000s, he returned to Russia. The place of service of Vitaly was the St. Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery, located in the Kaluga region.

After the tonsure, the servant of the monastery was named Photius. Despite the rejection of everything worldly, the order for music lessons did not disappear in the life of a monk. For some time, the priest was taught vocal skills by Viktor Tvardovsky, a Moscow teacher and soloist. opera houses. Further, Fotiy continued to study on his own, adopting the unique methodology of the former teacher. Over time, he became the best monastic chorister, and then the regent (leader) of the church choir.

In September 2015, Hieromonk Photius made his first appearance on television as part of the Voice program. The question of the participation of the priest in the show was controversial, but in the end the church organization gave the go-ahead. At the blind audition, the monk performed an excerpt from the opera "Eugene Onegin" (Lensky's aria) and got into the team of producer Grigory Leps. In the final of the musical competition, three-quarters of the viewers voted for Fotiy. Thus, the hieromonk became the winner of the Voice-4 project. He called the result of participation positive Orthodox priest in the competition and Patriarch Kirill himself.

Nowadays

At the beginning of 2016, all the finalists of the project took part in the All-Russian tour. Fotiy also received a blessing for touring. The first concert with the participation of the hieromonk took place on February 21 in Krasnodar. Now Vitaly Mochalov performs a lot, giving the proceeds to the construction of temples. More information about the work of Hieromonk Photius can be found on his official website.

Order ONLINE

Hieromonk Fotiy ordering concerts, contacts, organization of performances by artists. Invite a star to a wedding, corporate party, anniversary - you can contact us by phone in Moscow +7-499-343-53-23, +7-964-647-20-40, on the official website of the agent, write to the mail, in contacts menu.

Monastery choir, winner of the television show "Voice".

Hieromonk Photius
Vitaly Vladimirovich Mochalov
Name at birth	Vitaly Vladimirovich Mochalov
Date of Birth	11th of November(1985-11-11 ) (33 years)
Place of Birth	Bitter, RSFSR, the USSR
The country	the USSR the USSR → Russia Russia
Service place	Pafnutevo-Borovsky Monastery
San	hieromonk
Known as	singer, priest, choir director
Church	ROC

Biography

Born into a non-religious family. Graduated general education school No. 77 in Nizhny Novgorod.

At a young age, he prepared to become a musician, studied piano, sang solo at a music school and in a children's church choir. He dreamed of becoming a composer, writing music for films. At the age of 16, he interrupted his studies at a music school, where he studied at the department of music theory. After completing one course, in 2002 he emigrated with his whole family to Germany. Lived in Kaiserslautern. There he learned to play the organ. He earned money by playing the organ at Catholic and Protestant church services, participated in organ concerts.

On January 2, 2011, in the church in honor of the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt in the city of Balabanov, Borovsky District, Kaluga Region, Metropolitan Kliment (Kapalin) of Kaluga and Borovsk was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon.

On August 24, 2012, in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos of the Borovsky Pafnutev Monastery, the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Seraphim, was tonsured into a mantle with the name Photius in honor of the martyr Photius of Nicomedia.

At the first "blind" audition, he performed Lensky's aria from the opera Eugene Onegin. As soon as Hieromonk Photius sang the first lines at the blind audition: “Where, where, where have you gone, golden days of my fate?”, Grigory Leps interrupted blind audition, taking him to his team, and the singer Alexander Gradsky could not resist and at the end of the performance sang part of the aria with him. He got into the team of Grigory Leps, with whom he reached the final and won a victory in the project. The next day, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill congratulated the winner:

Congratulations to Father Fotiy on winning the Voice contest. The enterprise from the very beginning was very controversial and even, I would like to say, dangerous for the monk. Because the stage and the monastic vocation are, as it were, incompatible. But the result, surprisingly, turned out to be positive - I think, both for Father Photius, and for everyone who listened to him and who fell in love with him. And therefore, congratulating Father Photius, I would like to wish him to preserve that naturalness of behavior, modesty, which is inherent in the monastic rank and by which people - both ecclesiastical and non-ecclesiastical - determine the spiritual state of a clergyman. Keep in your heart what I wish you in a difficult time for you, coming after winning the competition. I would also like to remember that the monastic path you have chosen in its meaning and meaning exceeds the victory that you won. After all, many voted not only for the voice, but also for the image.

In January 2016, information appeared in the media that the hierarchy did not give Father Photius blessing to continue participating in festivals and concerts.

On September 22, 2016, at a meeting of abbots and abbesses in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Hieromonk Pafnuty, acting abbot of the St. Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery, asked Patriarch Kirill:

What to do with the resident of the monastery, the "Voice of Russia" hieromonk Photius, who is constantly on tour, raised a lot of capital ... when one correspondent asked Father Photius the question: "Why did you start singing?" - Father Fotiy answered: "I got bored in the monastery." I appeal to Your Holiness: help me, what should I do with him? After all, he not only sings, but also speaks ...

To which the Patriarch replied:

Here it turned out that a very young monk gained nationwide fame and, most importantly, nationwide sympathy. If there was only glory, and there was no such love of people, I would use my power and forbid him to speak. But I know how many people discover the Orthodox faith for themselves through Father Photius.

Hieromonk Photius denied accusations that he was bored in the monastery, and he still performs monastic obediences.

Part of the funds he collects from concerts goes to restoration or construction work in temples that need help.

Russian viewers in 2015 could watch how a modest monk became the winner of the Voice show, beating hundreds and thousands of other contenders. For some, this event caused indignation, for others, indignation, but few remained indifferent. Hieromonk Photius (in the world Vitaly Mochalov) - clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, abbot of the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky monastery in the Kaluga region, the first priest who gained fame after a television project.

Childhood and youth of the future star

Vitaly Mochalov was born on November 11, 1985 in the city of Gorky(current Nizhny Novgorod). The family was not religious. From childhood, the boy was fond of music and attended a music school, where he studied singing and playing the piano. Already as a teenager, Vitaly sang in the church choir, and also often soloed in the school team. After school, Vitaly decides to enter a music school with a degree in music theory.

But a year later, the whole family decides to emigrate to Germany, the city of Kaiserslautern. There, the young man does not leave his passion and learns to play the organ. Vitaly even earned money by playing the organ at concerts in Catholic and Protestant churches.

The young man came to faith on his own. At the age of 7, he asked his mother to go and baptize him, as he was afraid that he would not be able to become an angel. Mom and son were baptized, but churching happened later. After visiting the children's Orthodox camp "Blagovest", Vitaly returned home different. He completely plunged into the atmosphere of Orthodox life, communion with God, attended services, worked, sang in the kliros.

The path to the monastery

After living for three years in Germany, Vitaly returned to Russia without parents with a firm decision to leave worldly life, the opportunity to be married, money, success and become a monk. The future priest began his ministry in the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery of the Kaluga diocese. His spiritual father was the well-known confessor Schema-Archimandrite Vlasy, to whom many believers turn for advice. When Vitaly still had doubts about choosing his life path, it was Blasius who invited him to stay in the monastery.

First, Vitaly was tonsured a monk, in 2011 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and in 2012 he received the rank of hieromonk under the name Photius (the meaning of this name from the Greek language is “light”). Subsequently, the priest became the regent of the choir of this monastery.

The talented teacher Viktor Tvardovsky was engaged in the training of the monastery choristers. With him, the priest again became interested in vocals and began to sing actively. According to Photius himself, Victor helped him "tune" his voice, and Photius still uses the exercises of his author's technique.

The monk had many hobbies besides singing. In the monastery, he was engaged in the design and layout of parish publications, was fond of photography and video editing. There was even a possibility that Photius would go to serve in the army, and the monk himself was going to repay his debt to his homeland, but due to vision problems, he was not drafted into the army. Fotiy is fluent in German and English.

Show "Voice"

The idea of ​​participating in the Voice came to the monk a long time ago. Back in 2013, he sent an application and was even invited to the casting. But that year, the priest did not dare to ask for blessings from the church authorities. Photius decided to try his luck again in 2015, and then Channel One wrote an official letter to Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk with a request to let the hieromonk go to the show. The answer was positive, the church authorities blessed Photius.

The blind auditions were the show's first major challenge. The hieromonk performed Lensky's aria from the opera Eugene Onegin. Only Grigory Leps turned around. It was clear how the priest was a little shocked by such a course of events, because, according to him, he planned to get to Alexander Gradsky. Photius' first thought was: "What will I do with Grigory Leps?"

But further developments showed that it the best option, because Gregory led the monk to victory. Leps, even immediately at a blind audition, gave an idea for a future song, which he whispered in Photius's ear. It turned out that this is the composition "On the road to Zagorsk", which was performed in the quarterfinals.

On his way in the project, Fotiy performed a diverse repertoire:

• composition by Andrea Bocelli;
• the poignant "Monologue" to the verses of Akhmatova;
• romance "On the road to Zagorsk";
• the song "Good night, gentlemen" in the finale;
• composition "Labyrinths" in a duet with Grigory Leps.

As a winner song Fotiy sang Josh Groban's soulful composition "Perte" (For you). The singer generally respects Groban's work and often performs another of his compositions "Aligote" (Go away).

The jury members treated the priest very warmly and with great respect. Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) even asked for blessings, and Alexander Gradsky invariably defended and praised the unusual contestant.

When the project approached the audience voting, there was no longer any doubt that Photius would win. After all, the priest was ahead of his competitors by a huge margin, over and over again only increasing the percentage. The people responded and were imbued with the good nature, modesty and sincere performance of the monk. Many voted not so much for singing, but for the image, for courage.

After the victory, Patriarch Kirill himself congratulated Photius. In his message, he noted that the event was initially very controversial and raised doubts, because pop and fame are incompatible with monasticism. But the result exceeded all expectations. The patriarch also wished Photius to keep that modesty and naturalness of behavior in a difficult time after the competition and noted that the monastic path he had chosen exceeded the victory he won.

Monk Photius after a burst of fame

Of course, the fallen fame radically changed the work and life of Hieromonk Photius. Now he leads an active concert activity, communicates in social networks and can no longer be just a monk in a monastery. We have to combine monastic and secular life. In 2016, there was even a danger that Fotiy would leave the stage and concert activity.

Information appeared in the media that the acting abbot of the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery asked the patriarch what to do with Photius, because he not only sings, but also gives various interviews through which people form an idea of ​​​​Orthodoxy and monasticism. In particular, an episode was mentioned in which Photius said that he “became bored” in the monastery. The patriarch replied that through Father Photius, many discover the Orthodox faith for themselves, the monk has not only fame, but also people's love. Therefore, the patriarch did not use his authority and forbid the priest to speak.

Other clergy also generally positively assess the activities of Photius. After all, if at least one person thinks about faith, comes to the temple thanks to the singing and speeches of the priest, this will already be a small victory and a good deed.

Active tour activity now occupies all the time of Hieromonk Photius. Latest news can please fans: the priest’s schedule is scheduled for many months in advance. The repertoire includes arias from famous operas, foreign hits, classical pop compositions. Photius, as a rule, performs in small chamber halls. Kirov, Pskov, St. Petersburg, Obninsk, Moscow - far from full list cities where the hieromonk spoke. In June 2017, a big solo concert was given at the Crocus City Hall.

In social networks, you can easily find the accounts of Photius (hieromonk), where all the news and concert program. Various compositions, live recordings from concerts are posted on his VKontakte page, and you can also see a lot of enthusiastic responses from the audience.

In his Instagram profile, Fotiy likes to make his fans laugh. For example, not so long ago he posted a video where he sings into a microphone, and then quickly eats the singing agent, because it was chocolate. Often the priest also appears on television, gives interviews, was a guest on variety shows on Channel One:

• "Evening Urgant";
• "Alone with everyone";
• "While everyone is at home";
• "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with fellow Voice winner Sergei Volchkov.

Released in September 2016 debut album"Romances". The disc contains works by great composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov.

The priest admits that it is not easy for him to cope with the new way of life, but he tries to maintain the correct monastic attitude. The ability to retire, that is, to live in a separate room, is the only requirement in his rider on tour. How his fate will develop further, time will tell, but so far Hieromonk Photius pleases and inspires hundreds and thousands of people with his voice.