Reflections on the World Lyre Conference
/By Elizabeth Howe – Langley Park, UK
What an unexpected and amazing gift to be sponsored to attend the 2022 World Lyre Conference by LANA member Norma Lindenberg, my friend for nearly 50 years. Work, family, and financial constraints have prevented my attendance at past conferences. I traveled for 32 hours on five trains, a coach, a bus, and a tram to get to Cesky Krumlov from Durham, England, but once I finally arrived, it was like a homecoming. Yes, there were a few familiar faces, but more than that, I found similar biographical journeys, connections through Camphill or Waldorf schools, and more. These days I live alone. I play the solo lyre and sing in hospitals, and there are no other lyrists within 200 miles. What a joy it was to play again with others, to feel carried in the music, to attend workshops and come to collective new insights together.
In visiting the tables of the lyre builders, I met Cornelius Wruck who was promoting the bell lyres of Gundolf Kühn. I had not intended to buy another lyre, but the cherry wood tones made me cry, and after a few nights of wrestling with the idea, I realized that this instrument could be a true companion in my most recent area of work in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). My new lyre is a 7-string pentatonic instrument, which I have always thought of as quite limiting; but in his workshop, John Billing introduced "Extended Techniques" for the lyre, and we were led to find the harmonic notes, the octaves, 5ths, and other intervals by damping at the nodes. Now that I am home, I find I have renewed incentive to practice and can play music with a higher range. There are other "ripples" from the conference, as well, in that I have found my fellow lyre players in the UK; and I am motivated to link regularly in their get-togethers.
I would like to express my gratitude to Norma, to LANA, to the conference organizers, and to new found friends. It was so wonderful to meet you all at last! It was a very nourishing and validating experience for me to be part of an international lyre conference in such an amazing place. Thank you all for making this possible!