A Tale of Two Brazilian Youths in Zeist

By Tarina Rubinger, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Since Detroit, I decided not to miss any world lyre conference thereafter. When I invited my two 13-year-old sons, Estêvão and Cristiano, to attend, they promptly rejected the idea because after three years of pentatonic lyre and four of complete lyre, they had stopped for more than one year to devote more time to their other instruments. Their schedule was so busy at the Waldorf school as well as sports, languages, and so on. Well, I argued in favor of the experience of playing with so many musicians from all over the world, friendships of various nationalities, practice of English and German. Anything. They wanted holidays, rest, playful activities. Well, at the age of 13, they went to Holland with me.

We were in a large group of Brazilians. We passed through the south of England where we made some presentations in chapels, ruins and parks. They happily photographed and filmed us, but still without the desire to attend the conference.

However, as soon as the activities in Zeist started, the questioning was over and enthusiasm grew throughout the week. The workshops were precious to them, football was daily on the grass and friendships are still moving inside of them. Oh, all of this motivated, I do not know until when, the idea of attending the next conference. They thanked me in different ways and recognized the wisdom behind my gesture.

As soon as we arrived in Brazil, the songs from the conference moved to the piano. And so the spirit of this great union in the lyre and by the music lives in them day by day.