ROMANA: (Singing in non-English language).
HARNETT: Now imagine – it’s the early 13th century. You’re sitting inside the Hagia Sophia. Marble pillars rise up around you. Dusty light filters into the windows in the massive dome above. And this is how you might hear Cappella Romana.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROMANA: (Singing in non-English language).
HARNETT: This transformation is possible because of two scholars at Stanford University in two very different fields. Bissera Pentcheva is a professor of art history.
BISSERA PENTCHEVA: A lot of my work is focused on reanimating medieval art and architecture.
HARNETT: Jonathan Abel is in the computer music department.
On this day in 532, Byzantine emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia. pic.twitter.com/kyqCehPCsT
— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) February 23, 2020