2025 Lyre Conference with Christian Giersch

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This year, LANA’s Summer Conference will once again be held in beautiful Copake, NY. We are very excited to welcome Christian Giersch from Germany who will work with us on the theme ‘Let the Tone Come Alive!’ during the five days of the conference. Lyre players of all levels are encouraged to join us as we explore this theme together. This conference will be, in many ways, a preparation for the historic 100-year anniversary of the birth of the lyre, which will be celebrated at our International Lyre Conference in Dornach, Switzerland in the summer of 2026. We are most fortunate this summer to have the opportunity to work directly with one of the master lyrists in Europe who also happens to be one of the organizers of next summer’s international conference! 

What follows here are Christian’s vision for our time together, highlights of our planned activities, and our daily schedule. Please DO NOT MISS the important message to ALL LANA members and friends that follows the link to the daily schedule below!

Christian has elaborated on the conference theme and his intentions for our time together in the following short description:

The wonderful sound of the lyre can lead both listener and player to the experience that musical tones, intervals, and rhythms are more than mere physical phenomena. They want to be experienced and formed like living beings. Only then does their inherent strength to create peace and community unfold. I have worked with this theme for decades as a teacher and performing artist and would like to share my experiences with you. By means of basic practical exercises (suitable for lyrists of any skill level), through moving together, playing the lyre (with and without sheet music), through singing, and listening, we will come closer to the living essence of music: Let the tone come alive!

The conference will open with Registration on Friday afternoon, August 15th, followed by LANA’s Annual Member’s Meeting and official Opening Evening that will feature performances by local musicians and other lyrists, and with a talk and musical offering by Christian.

  • The conference will then run for the subsequent four full days of Saturday, August 16 – Tuesday, August 19th.

  • Daily workshops include plenums, Strömendes Gestalten improvisation, Honing Lyre Skills and small group workshops according to skill level.

  • On Monday evening August 18th, Christian will give an interactive  ‘Sound Workshop’ concert.

  • There will be a public sharing of music for the community on Tuesday evening, August 19th.

  • The plenum, evaluations, and closing will take place on Wednesday morning, August 20th.

See the plan for our daily schedule at the following link:

Early Bird Deadline is July 15th . . . Register NOW!!

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS AND FRIENDS:

The planning for this conference started the very week after our 2024 Summer conference. We were able to engage Christian as our Master Teacher, we obtained a commitment once again from Camphill Copake for our venue, and we secured dates – all by the end of the year, which is earlier than we have ever had such details in place for an upcoming conference.

Unfortunately, a little more than one month out now, our enrollment is much lower than we had expected or imagined. We are moving forward, past obvious financial concerns, because we feel strongly that meeting together will be an important spiritual deed as we form an American nexus in preparation for our much-anticipated international lyre conference in 2026. We ask that anyone who is planning to attend the conference and may not yet have registered to please do so as soon as possible so that we can plan appropriately. We both welcome and need your participation!

We would also like to support the attendance of those who might need to travel from a distance with a discounted tuition or scholarship, but at this moment, we are not sure we will meet the basic costs of hosting the conference. So, if you yourself are not able to attend, we ask you to help us by considering a donation of $50 to LANA so that we can welcome anyone who has not yet registered because of travel-related expenses.

It must be acknowledged that we are in a time of tremendous upheaval and change on numerous fronts, both nationally and globally, and we recognize that the resulting feeling of overwhelm can make it feel easier and perhaps safer to just stay home. But we also know very well the soul nourishment we receive when we come together in person to play, to move, to sing, and to create.  The warmth of camaraderie and music-making together is something that simply cannot be experienced online. Such in-person encounters to create something together under the guidance of a recognized master teacher can have a deep healing effect, affirming our sense of shared humanity and the creative purpose of our existence through artistic work together.  

If you are planning to attend the international conference in Dornach, this summer’s work will be an ideal preparation. If you are not able to attend the international conference next year, then this summer’s work will be as close as you can get to the kind of experience we will have there, including playing some of the music that has been expressly written for that conference! Please consider if it really could be possible for you to join us, register today, and encourage others in your circles to do the same.  Remember that we always welcome beginners, and that some financial aid IS still available!

We sincerely hope that you can join us!

The LANA Board / Conference Committee