By Saeko Shibayama Cohn – Nyack, NY

From August 5 through 14, I attended the World Lyre Conference in Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic, accompanied by my son, Leon.

The conference opened with a three-day pedagogy workshop in which 20 people participated. Martin Tobiassen offered an opening talk entitled “Precious Forgetting,” and guided us throughout the weekend on the theme of lyre teacher training. Martin repeatedly emphasized the importance of learning pieces by heart on the lyre. “One of our tasks as teachers is to give students a skill they can rely on.”

We had ample time to share our personal experiences as lyre students and teachers, everyone fondly recollecting how they first encountered the lyre, in one case, as early as the age of three. Susann Temperli’s workshop on the mood of the fifth, and Jan Braunstein’s plenum, in which he led us to experience “how tone changes only with imagination and gestures,” even in a large group, were very inspiring, and fit neatly into the broader theme of the conference – The Presence of Spirit.

On Sunday, Leon and I took a wooden raft ride on the Moldau; then the main conference began and an additional forty people joined us. I participated in three workshops:

John Billing’s “Zen of Playing the Lyre”: John taught us how to play harmonics. While practicing this exciting new technique at home, I became convinced that harmonics are one instance wherein “spirit” can be manifested in lyre music. Paying close attention to details (such as phrasing and dynamics) before playing harmonics makes music truly musical.
Thea Kaesbach’s “The Mood of the Fifth and Pentatonic Music for the Young Child Through Eurythmy and Lyre Playing”: Thea elegantly showed us how lyre music can be incorporated into eurythmy and early-childhood activities.
Susanne Heinz’s “TAO Melody." Susanne invited us into the healing world of TAO (the four tones of B-A-E-D, as indicated by Rudolf Steiner).

One surprise during the main conference was that there ended up being enough children/teenagers after all, to offer a modest children’s program. I am grateful that Sheila Johns, Anna Cooper, Rebecca Dietzel, and Anna Littel took the initiative and spontaneously formed a children’s workshop while adults were having their own plenum sessions in the morning. It was wonderful that Leon could experience lyre playing with other young students. When they presented a piece on the last day of the conference, it was magical.

For me personally, the most memorable part of this conference was the nightly rehearsal of Pär Ahlbom’s “Improva.” Those joining comprised Team Pär Ahlbom or the Lyre Academy Ensemble as it appeared in the program of the public concert: Martin Tobiassen (conductor), Christian Giersch, Heide Panzier, John Billing, Thomas Leinz, Joachim Lentz and myself.

Prior to the lyre conference, I had attended Martin and Christian’s Lyre Academy in Bad Boll, Germany in late July, which was dedicated to working on this major work, composed by Pär Ahlbom in 2009 and arranged by Martin into twelve parts over the years. Due to illness, I had to withdraw from the July academy after the first two days. I never thought I could play my part properly because it was difficult, especially without knowing the other parts, but Heide went out of her way to help me practice numerous times between the two events, and somehow I gathered the courage to join the team. In Český Krumlov, we practiced nightly after everyone else left, sometimes until 11pm. I will never forget walking back to the dormitory with Joachim and Leon, leaving the beautifully lit castle town behind. I am truly grateful for everyone who was involved in this project, especially Gerhard Beilharz, who helped us in Bad Ball, and Martin for allowing me to take part in the performance.

Playing Ahlbom’s “Improva” was the beginning of something new for me. After returning home, at Leon’s bedtime every night, I play and sing music from his book, “Die Sonnentrommel” (Edition Zwischentöne, 2021), a collection of mostly pentatonic songs for children. As I recall the gentle flow of the Moldau, I continue to play Pär Ahlbom’s music for Leon, who also witnessed the presence of spirit this summer, wholeheartedly embracing the family-like love and warmth of the lyre players who gathered in Český Krumlov.

Finally, I would like to express special thanks to the conference organizers Helena Hlaváčková and her husband, Miloslav Klusák. In short, this summer, I left home as a lyre student and returned home as a lyre teacher. Such was effect of our summer in Europe.