Resonare Lyre Ensemble Offers an Evening of Music at the House of Peace in Ipswich, MA

By Julia Elliott, Boxford, Massachusetts

In late July, a group of six Resonare faculty members and students brought an evening of lyre music and song to the House of Peace in Ipswich, MA. The night was warm (the hottest of the year!), and the audience filled all the seats at the nearly 300-year-old Rogers’ Manse, in which the House of Peace resides. Despite the heat, they received the program with great enthusiasm as the lyre moved the listeners beyond their physical surroundings toward an experience of pure tone.

Led by Channa Seidenberg and Cate Decker, the group (which also included Julia Elliott, Regine Detremmerie, Magdalena Szewczykowska and Andreas Fontein) shared a program of lyre music, choral selections, and a discussion of the history of the lyre in the evening. The following morning, the group offered a workshop to experience and explore anthroposophical instruments. The morning’s activities included an introduction to the lyre and metal instruments, improvising and singing. For many of the participants, it was the first time they had held a lyre. For one, it was the first time he had sung with a group since being told he was tone deaf at the age of six. For the entire group, it was a morning of listening, sharing and enjoying making music together.

As with the year-long Resonare program, the evening performance and the morning workshop invited the audience to re-awaken inner listening and experience tone. This was the first such offering Boston’s North Shore had experienced, and it was a gift to the community.