Activities of the Kimberton Lyre Group

By Kerry V. Lee

The activities of a lyre group can be so diverse, and then they can also be very similar in so many ways. We, of course, do what so many lyre groups across the country do, that is, the Rose Ceremony at the beginning of the school year. The seniors greet the new first graders and become their buddies, giving each a rose, while the lyrists play beautiful music fitting to the occasion. We also play at the end of the school year for the Rose Ceremony, where the first graders wish the seniors farewell by giving each of them a rose. We are joined by a bass recorder, which sounds beautiful with the lyres, and a side flute for these occasions. We also play for the Advent Garden the first Sunday of Advent, another occasion loved by each of us.

Members of our ensemble look forward to these yearly opportunities to play, not because of our varied connections to the Waldorf School, past and present, but out of the love of the lyre and what it brings to these festivals. We have become so in tune with each other that we begin to breathe in the music together. What a wonderful feeling when we make tempo changes in exactly the same way. Of course it means practicing together weekly for years.

Our group also does things that might be different from other groups. Each year our Threshold group has a workshop, and the lyre group accompanies the ending, bringing a very beautiful and wonderful atmosphere. We have played for our local Time Bank’s annual meeting, which was well received. We take our lyres to someone who is ill, in the hospital, or at home in the dying process. Some of us play for the Christian Community services. Our group uses the "12 Fifth" tuning otherwise known as Maria Renold tuning. We all are very happy with this tuning as the pure fifth sound really brings a freeing feeling that makes one want to take a deep breath when you are tuning and get it right.

Wishing all of you lots of fun with your lyre! -Kerry

LifeWays Training

By Kerry Lee, Kimberton, Pennsylvania

I had the honor of being part of the LifeWays training in the Kimberton, PA area, with 24 enthusiastic students. LifeWays is a training that offers an alternative to pre-school teaching, creating a home setting instead of a school setting for the preschool child. Founder Cynthia Aldinger is enthusiastic about including “Uncovering the Voice” and “Mood of the Fifth” as part of the musical training for the students.

We met five different times in the year ranging from one to two weeks. Music was a part of every session but one. In the “Uncovering of the Voice” sessions, I introduced exercises including all parts of the body, from the head to the feet. We also sang lovely songs in unison and in parts, did rhythms with our hands and feet, along with circle action games and more. When I asked how the singing exercises had helped them, a number of students commented on how it helped to raise their voice to a higher level, and how the exercises “loosened” their voices to be able to sing better. I was able to work individually with those who had difficulty with pitch and singing “on key.”

We used the pentatonic lyre as instrument of choice for “Mood of the Fifth” songs and games. We learned how to play and tune the lyre and how to write songs, and we discovered the mystery behind the “mood of the fifth.” Each participant had to write her own song by the end of the course. Together they prepared end-of-session celebrations for the children and their families, and they always included the lyre as part of each celebration, usually as the children walked in to sit down or during the puppet show.

The students were a joy to work with, and it was a great preparation for my trip to China, where I taught similar things in November of 2015!

Lyre Conference in the Czech Republic

The beautiful town of Cesky Krumlov

By Sarah Stosiek

This summer I spent an amazing week in the beautiful town of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic participating in the Lyre Conference organized by Jan Braunstein and Helena Bartosova! The week was filled with workshops and lyre groups, as well as time to explore the town and castle which boasted a bear in the moat, plus evening music sharings, a street performance and a final concert given to the public to cap it all off! Playing the lyre with other people is enjoyable no matter what, but this conference was extra special. As a group of about 25 we learned Czech folk songs, improvised, shared music, learned new techniques and struggled to piece together Pachelbel's Chaconne until we were successful. It truly was a wonderful experience, and I look forward to many similar conferences in the future!

Lyre Conference organized by Jan Braunstein and Helena Bartosova

2016 Summer Conference

Movement for Musical Renewal in Hadley, Massachusetts

How Does the Tone of the Lyre Move in Us?
Awakening to the Inner and Outer Relationship of Movement and the "Freed Tone"

This summer LANA is offering a conference out of the Movement for Musical Renewal and designed to unite our lyre work with other artistic impulses inspired by the indications of Rudolf Steiner. We are very pleased to be turning to the relationship between the lyre and movement. In addition to lyrists, it is our hope for this conference to reach out to all those who are drawn to or working with a deepened experience of TONE, including other instrumentalists, singers, eurythmists, spacial dynamics practitioners, artistic therapists, Waldorf music teachers, and parents. 

Eurythmy with Karen Derreumaux:  "How the Tone sounding from the Lyre ignites our Inner Life Movements."  In our eurythmy sessions we shall explore how the movements arise out of our engagement with the Tone from the Lyre. 

Spacial Dynamics with Catherine Decker:  As musicians and listeners, we accompany a musical tone or interval inwardly as it evolves and transforms. This vital, yet unseen movement is the experience of deep and vital resonance. With the support of Spacial dynamic streams and exercises, we will explore our relationship to the space around our physical bodies and the spaces we encounter in the lyre music.

The Setting:  Hartsbrook is a Waldorf school located in the fertile Connecticut River Valley in the region of western Massachusetts known as the Pioneer Valley. It is a prestigious center for higher learning, with five colleges within a ten mile radius. The town of Hadley, situated in Hampshire County, was founded in 1661 and is one of the oldest settlements in Massachusetts with countless relics of the past, including colonial homes and museums in a setting of lush farmland, rolling hills, and old cemeteries. We are very happy to have the opportunity this summer to bring our collective sounding of the modern lyre into such a rich area of our American history! 

The cost to attend the conference is $225 for LANA members and $275 for non-members, if registered by June 5. After that date the cost is $275 and $325. Per diem rates and meal packages are available, along with affordable lodging options in a college dormitory or private homes. A list of nearby hotel options is available on request.

Please plan to join us in Hadley, Massachusetts July 5-9 for LANA's 2016 Summer Musical Renewal Conference! For more information, call 518-672-4389 or email lyrists@gmail.com.

• To register, go to:   http://lyre2016.bpt.me
• Conference Schedule:  http://bit.ly/1VLk5Ix
• To apply for financial aid, go to: http://bit.ly/1sx05GO
• If you live in or near Hadley, MA, and can offer lodging to a conference participant, please go to: http://bit.ly/1SclHuv

Early Bird deadline May 31!

Registration open! Summer Musical Renewal Conference, July 5-9, Hadley, MA

Go to: http://p0.vresp.com/wGQBsj #vr4smallbiz

Barbara Patterson, Ghent, NY

Every morning at 8 am, I sit in the hall of our independent living home in Ghent, NY with my lyre and play the tone of the day and the mirrored scale.  This also includes the fifth of the tone played up and down the octaves of my lyre.   Usually some residents of our house gather at 8 o’ clock to hear the sounding of the lyre.  The "activities in the life of the soul”– from Guidance in Esoteric Training, as well as the words of the Eightfold Path – are also brought for all of us to be aware of during the unfolding of our day.  Thus another day begins in Magnolia House at Camphill Ghent.

Twice a month, two friends come and join me in playing lyre together.  These friends have each owned lyres for a long time, but recently they had not been playing them very often. Now we are enjoying learning and playing together.  

I am also using my soprano lyre as part of an educational support class with a student from the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School who has been diagnosed with autism.  He responds to music, and, particularly when listening to the lyre, this boy becomes very calm and ready to go on with his lesson.  Again and again, I experience the healing effects of the sounding of the lyre.

Diane Barnes, Connecticut

Activities with the Lyre:
The lyre continues to be active at the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School in Newtown, Connecticut, with the lower grades learning the kinderharp, and upper grades students playing the bordun lyres. The children use  the Bleffert iron rods and gongs, as well.  We were very grateful to have John Billing come and play for the students and parents last September. I play the lyre for the Madonna Series presented each year to the students during Advent, and I also make an extra trip down to play for the school's Advent Garden.  The lyre truly helps all who hear it to listen in a new way.

There are several lyre players in the Hudson, Harlemville, Valatie, and Hillsdale areas of New York.  Some of us take turns playing at the Christian Community on Sundays, as do other instrumentalists.  In my corner I have played my alto lyre and sung at the Pumpkin Festival.  I have now played and sung at two Nursing/Adult homes in the area thus far in 2016, and am looking for other such opportunities.  On January 30th, I gave a metal instrument workshop, which included playing bordun lyres.  We saw and heard how the threefold human being is represented and nurtured by these instruments.  The feedback has been very positive. My hope is for more people to learn to play them and sound them out, drawing more people into our work.
With wishes for lyrists working more often together – Diane

Children's Camp in China

By Veronika Roemer, Lehighton, PA - vbrtnstn@gmail.com

Music With Young Children – Last autumn, I was part of a homeschooling initiative, a group of six families with a total of twelve children aged 18 months to 12 years old. The group met one day a week for eight weeks.  There was strong interest in Waldorf education and related topics among the mothers.  They met at the end of each school day for a session with the main teacher to discuss child raising questions. I had the great fortune to make music with them all. This was a unique and new learning experience for me.  I had never before taught music to preschool children or to mixed age groups.  The school-aged children were a familiar age group from teaching instrumental lessons.  We did a lot of singing and instrumental playing, like the youth group at the lyre conference last summer in Detroit.

But little ones – that was something completely new.  It was a small group, seven children including the 18 month-old.  All the mothers and the Kindergarten teacher participated, too, which was wonderful, as one or more children were often missing.  I used pentatonic and mood of the fifth songs, pentatonic and bordun lyres, iron and copper rods, gongs, triangle and cymbals, drums, and my solo lyre. I attempted to adjust to this particular age group the games I had learned from Par Ahlbom, and also new ideas I gained from a fantastic book by Reinhild Brass: “Discovering Ways/Paths of Listening.” (This book is only in German, as far as I know, and needs to be translated).  

The children enjoyed the instruments (and so did the mothers, I think, even more so than the children). Sometimes they could hardly wait to play them!  Every child had opportunities to play every instrument, and some made a strong connection with the one or the other. Towards the end of the eight sessions, I noticed a big difference in one child who initially didn’t have enough inner quiet to listen to the resounding of a rod or gong and never lasted until the end of the session (about 20 minutes), but walked away or declared she was hungry.  Now she had become much quieter, participated with the group, and stayed to the end.  But the biggest gift was to hear her sing strongly and confidently with a clear, pure, high voice.  

Channa A. Seidenberg, Philmont, New York

Honoring Colin Tanser

In late February, the Camphill Village Ensemble will pay tribute to Colin Tanser, who has been ill for some time. He is one of our most beloved composers of music for the lyre, and we will honor him by presenting Colin’s "Everyman."  This piece was originally written for the International Lyre Conference in Belfast in 2006.

As part of the tribute, we will sing the "Thornbury Days" songs, selections from "Circle of Songs" and "Star-wished Night." Colin's wife, Jennie, wrote many of the words to Colin's vocal music. In addition, there will be lyre pieces from the "Heart's Reply." A member of our Camphill Village Lyre Group will speak about Colin and his many contributions over the years.

Thank you, Colin, for your gifts to us!

Andrea Lyman: Waldorf Music Teacher Training in China

After many months of planning, I had the opportunity in January to travel to Shenzhen, China to present the first session of a full Waldorf music teacher training.   This 3-year program will meet twice a year with sessions running for ten consecutive days in January and October, totaling 360 hours of class time. This comprehensive program will include an in-depth study of anthroposophy, child development, self-transformation of the individual, eurythmy, the arts, movement, the full music curriculum and pedagogy, and more!  As director of this program, I taught the entire first session, but as it continues in the future, the program will include other faculty.

Our first group of students consisted of 23 teachers, musicians, and parents who were eager to learn and know more about Waldorf music education. Students came from all over China, including the northern provinces and Hong Kong. Shenzhen is right on the tip of south China, across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong, so it has easy access to transportation and cosmopolitan businesses and trade. It is a modern city that is only 30 years old and was created and developed as a high-tech, ‘Silicon Valley’ type of city with industries such as Apple iPhone manufacturing and other large high-tech companies. Surrounded by the water on one side and green hills on the other, the air quality in Shenzhen is quite good for China, and even though it is a young city, it already has 20 million inhabitants!

After only ten years, Waldorf education is growing in China at a wildfire rate!  There are currently 300 kindergartens, ten grade schools, and one high school in China. While technically not legal, these independent schools are being allowed to exist and are being ‘watched’ by the government to see the results. Those involved in the creation of these schools strongly recognize that in order for Waldorf education to flourish and survive into the future, there must be a deep foundation in the understanding of what stands behind this educational approach. There is a high demand for Waldorf schools in China, but because it is so new, it has been a challenge to find enough trained teachers; therefore, teacher-training possibilities are crucial. This is the first comprehensive Waldorf music teacher training in China and one of very few in the world at this time.

Included in our first 10-day session in Shenzhen was an introduction to the 7-string pentatonic children’s lyre. I had carefully packed my Choroi kinderharp in my suitcase, which led to some interesting customs experiences on my journey to Asia.  Several of the security personnel insisted I open the case and play this strange little instrument that they could not identify with the x-ray machines! I would have loved to have had a photo of the agents looking, listening, touching, and smiling at this fascinating, musical oddity! This was my first but not last experience of how eager the people of Asia are to learn about ‘all things Waldorf’ and receive it with full hearts and minds.

At the end of the course in Shenzhen, I flew directly to Manila/Quezon City in the Philippines. While not new in the Philippines, Waldorf education has only been supported by occasional presenters coming to give workshops or short courses. There have been mentions of music in the Waldorf curriculum in other workshops but never any kind of dedicated course such as this. I had been invited to give a five-day (two module) Waldorf music course – the first ever in the Philippines. The first module of two days was a general overview of what music is, why it is important to the human being, how it meets the developing child, and the basic spectrum of the music curriculum in Waldorf education. Many parents and mainstream music teachers were in attendance. The second module went more deeply into the curriculum and pedagogy and included many experiential activities. In all, there were 35 participants from all over the Philippine islands in addition to an anthroposophical doctor from India and a new Waldorf music teacher from Singapore.

The day before I began the course in Manila, I was able to visit one of the Waldorf schools in the local area, and I met a woodwork teacher who showed me a pentatonic lyre that he had made. We had some discussion about certain characteristics and qualities of a well made, pedagogically sound lyre – a conversation I know will continue and hopefully support healthy lyre work with Waldorf students in this country. There is great interest in the lyre in this part of the world, and I look forward to seeing it develop and grow.

In July, I will be traveling to another part of China to bring music education to an existing Waldorf teacher-training program there. How wonderful it is to see such enthusiasm and earnest striving to nurture and support an educational model that meets children so beautifully.  It is also inspiring to observe how the devoted parents everywhere are willing to do whatever it takes to bring what they feel is right and good for their beloved children – even if it means going against the social and political contexts in which they live. No matter where in the world I have traveled and visited Waldorf schools, the essence of reverence and beauty permeates every school with the same sense of conscious commitment and steadfast striving that will carry the light of Waldorf education into the future. What a privilege and joy it is to be a part of this worthy contribution to the evolution of humanity!

Pan Kai: China Pictures and Story

This is an update on some lyre activities in China. [SEE SLIDE SHOW]
In November 2015, Susanne Heinz and I gave six lyre concerts throughout China, from northern to southern parts of the country.  My friend Dina played cello with us in South China. After the concert I started teaching children and adults again in Beijing. We had much happiness and love during the course.

In 2016, we will study the kinder lyre and then study chromatic lyre to use after 4th grade.  In August of 2016, Channa Seidenberg from the U.S. and Reinhild Brass from Germany will join us to support this work in Shenyang. 

Akiyo Lambert-Kai: "Peaceful Lyre" Workshops

At the 2015 International Conference., I met many people from around the world, and through those encounters I recognized again how joyful and wonderful it is to interact with different people.

I facilitated two workshops:  In my morning workshop, the participants came from various countries. I always kept in mind the conference title, ‘Peaceful Lyre.’ We created a group with strong unity, where advanced players waited until beginners could play with ease. Everyone had the power to enjoy and the heart to help each other, instead of fearing mistakes. We started with body movements, and then we had sound communications with lyre. I told about the history and the basso continuo in the music pieces.

In the afternoon workshop, some participants were from the youth group. I brought more powerful content. The workshop title was ‘Renaissance Music,’ and I prepared a French piece for lyre. I also added some choreography, mixing the renaissance dance and the eurythmy. Each one showed an expression for one word by the eurythmy movements: Hope, Soul, Heart, Music, Lyre, Love.

The conference in Detroit was a wonderful experience... it allowed me to discover a new me. To the team and to the participants, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude.  -Akiyo

Anouncements from North America

Resonare:
Foundation Studies in Music Out of Anthroposophy

A new cycle is beginning in September 2016. This course is open to all who have an interest in exploring the elements of music. The primary focus is on developing one’s capacities for listening and investigating the qualities of tone. For this exploration, we turn to the lyre with its unique ability to release musical tone from the physicality of the instrument. In addition to our work with the lyre, course content includes singing, music theory, and the study of Rudolf Steiner’s lectures on the nature of music. Participants explore the relationship to intervals and are given the opportunity to apply this understanding to improvisation. Movement sessions, including Spacial Dynamics and eurythmy, form an important aspect of each weekend. Working in a small group, the structure is designed to provide ample time for experiential learning in a supportive environment.

The schedule for the Resonare Music Foundation course consists of five long weekends from September 2016 through May 2017. We begin with a supper each Thursday evening and end by mid-day Sunday. We meet at the Harmonia Center for Instrumental and Vocal Music Therapy, based in Philmont, NY.  Applications are now being accepted for September. For more information, please contact Channa Seidenberg at (518) 672-4389. E-mail: channaseidenberg@gmail.com.

___________________________

AWME invites you to
The 17th Annual Waldorf Summer Music Conference!

In its 17th year, the 2016 Waldorf Summer Music Conference will offer a journey through the grades, looking more closely at what stands behind the music curriculum. Bringing ‘the right thing at the right time’ is the hallmark of Waldorf education, and the music curriculum reflects this profound pedagogy.

WHEN: July 10, 2016 @ 5:30 pm – July 15, 2016 @ 1:00 pm
WHERE: Cedarwood Waldorf School, 3030 SW 2nd Ave, Portland, OR 97201 USA
COST: $455 for AWME members; $495 for non-members
CONTACT: Diana Bright – 503-863-9112 -  dbright@cedarwoodschool.org 

Click here to see more registration details!

___________________________

Announcing the start of the second
East Coast Foundational Singing Training with Christiaan Boele

This part-time training meets twice a year beginning Summer 2016 in Spring Valley, NY at The Threefold Educational Foundation. Contact Shannon Boyce at shannonaliciaboyce@gmail.com for more details and to register.

Invitation from our German Friends

From Gerhard Beilharz

Dear friends of the lyre and future lyrists –

What follows is a whole series of concerts, conferences, and events coming up in the next weeks and months. Details (if already known) to all events are available on www.leier-forum.com.   

MEETINGS

The 3rd Langenberg lyre festival takes place from April 29 (evening) to May 1st (noon) 2016 in Windrather Talschule in Velbert-Langenberg. Further details will be announced shortly.  Requests, suggestions, offers, please contact Nele Christiane Roth, nelechristiane@gmx.de.

The 3-lyre youth conference at Ascension will take place from 4 to 8 May 2016 again in Bliestorf (Lübeck), led by Joachim Lentz and Martin Tobiassen.

Hartmut Reuter will hold a lyre day for all on April 23 in Mainleus-Veitlahm, with workshops and concerts, under the sign of the 400th death year of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.

There is also a whole series of CONCERTS in southern Germany and Switzerland:

Art of Fugue - and more

Workshop Concert with Gerhard Beilharz, Wolfgang Friebe, Nobuko Izumoto, Thomas Leins
February 28, 2016, 20 am, Rudolf Steiner Seminar Bad Boll

Music for Two Lyres

Wolfgang Friebe and Thomas Leins
Works by Maurice Ravel, Alois Kuenstler, Lothar Reubke et al
Works by Ravel, artists, et al Reubke

• May 4, 2016, 20 am, Jacob Boehme branch Basel
• May 5, 2016 (Ascension Day) at 11:30 am, Christian Community Schopfheim
• May 7, 2016, 19.30, Ita Wegman Klinik Arlesheim, Switzerland
• July 3, 2016, 19 am, Rudolf Steiner House Heidenheim

Summer Concert

Lyre ensemble Ueberlingen, headed by Susanne Heinz and Susanne Hackenberg
July 3, 2016, expected to 16:00, House Rengold, Ueberlingen

This is a preview. If you would like your own event listed, then please let us know!

Friendly greetings from Bad Boll, Gerhard Beilharz

___________________________

From Hartmut Reuter

A lyre workshop will take place on Saturday, April 23, 2016 at Adam Schneider Hall, Father Bergweg 5, 95336 Mainleus-Veitlahm, Germany, from 9 am-6 pm. This day we will be commemorating 400 years of Shakespeare and 400 years of Miguel de Cervantes. We will be introduced to music spanning four centuries.

All lyre playing levels are welcome! If you don't own an instrument, you will be able to borrow one. For more information, please contact Silvia & Hartmut Reuter at info@klangbus.de.  [READ the FLYER]

Lyre 2015 - Looking Back

A Note from Sheila Johns for the Lyre Board

As I reflect back on our time in Detroit, the feeling quality of the experience becomes ever stronger for me as the 2 weeks after the conference have passed.  I feel that it is truly amazing what was allowed to come to pass during our days together.  On reflection, it seems almost like all of our hard work, each of us in our own areas of assumed responsibility, was orchestrated like a symphony, from airport rides, to registration, to browsing for music, to considering the shapes and sounds of our instrument itself, to putting programs together, to teaching and participating in both small and large groups, to experiencing the amazing potential of the next generation of lyrists, to deepening old friendships and making important new ones, to socializing down the hallways and in the kitchen to jamming in the conference room, to the merging of our different spoken languages into our common musical one - playing together, listening together, sharing together on every level and finally with the general public – a week of pure magic, both similar and utterly different from any international gathering we have ever had.  A distinctly new sense of real community has emerged – that which some of us had envisioned already in 2003 but which only now, 12 years later, seems truly destined to finally come about.  

I just want to express my gratitude to each one of you who labored so diligently to do your part to make this all happen.  I truly marvel at the beautiful way in which everyone devoted their full efforts to creating a whole that, looking back, ended up being so very much greater than the sum of all of its parts – greater, I think, than any of us imagined could be.

Sheila P. Johns

For the LANA Board

Lyre 2015: Youth Lyre Workshop

 

An important part of our international lyre gathering in Detroit, Michigan this August, is our Youth Lyre Workshop, which will run simultaneously with our general adult conference. As of this week, we have received ten registrations from young people ages 11 through 19 who will participate in this special program for youth as well as registrations from five older adolescents who, we are excited to report, will be full participants with us in the adult conference! 

The Youth Workshop will begin with an afternoon registration at 5:30 pm on Monday, August 3rd followed by supper together, where young people will meet the other participants and their teachers, Veronika Roemer and Christina Porkert, who will be leading the workshop.  After supper, the youth will join the adults for our opening evening, which will include a general welcome and orientation, remarks on the conference theme, and several artistic offerings to include lyre playing, singing, and poetry from members of the Lyre Association of North America.

The schedule for the Youth Lyre Workshop will begin with singing together at 8:30 am each morning from Tuesday through Friday. The next hour will be dedicated to playing lyre together. After a morning break, students will explore musical possibilities with new instruments, including metal and stringed instruments, and will then have an opportunity to combine their lyres with some of the new instruments to create a piece of music together! 

Following lunch together, some exciting activities have been planned for the youth to explore the beautiful city of Detroit on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons. The students will visit the Pewabic Pottery and will be able to create a ceramic tile of their very own. They will also visit the Michigan Science Center, which features hundreds of hands-on exhibits, and finally, they will visit the renowned Greenfield Village for an authentic exploration of early American history and culture. More details and links for these unique local adventures are provided below! 

The youth will return from their outings before supper and will then be released to the care of their parents or guardians for supper and the remainder of the evening. Youth Workshop participants and their families are warmly invited to join the adult conference participants for our evenings of Artistic Offerings on both Tuesday and Wednesday. 

On Friday, following lunch, the youth will stay together to rehearse in preparation for their contribution to our final evening Public Concert, which will be the official close of the dedicated Youth Lyre Workshop. All youth are warmly invited to join the adults for our closing on Saturday morning, which will feature sharing from the various adult workshops as well as a closing plenum and farewell lunch. 

We still have space available for a few more young people who would like to spend an exciting week exploring music making together with others their age from both the US and several other countries. Remember that no previous musical experience is necessary. This will be a very special week of sharing music, culture, new friends, and lots of fun! Please pass the word to any young people in your communities who might still wish to join us for this unique opportunity in conjunction with Lyre 2015 in Detroit, Michigan this August!

-Sheila Johns

June 20, 2015

Youth Activities – August 4th through 6th, 2015

We have some wonderful adventures planned for the youth on the afternoons of the Conference! Look for a lot of interactive activities and plenty of diversity in different parts of Detroit. 

1) Pewabic Pottery

We thought our youth would like to create a ceramic tile as a keepsake of their trip. A drive about 5 miles east of Wayne State close to the river brings us to this 1903 National Historic Landmark. 

Founded by Mary Stratton and Horace Caulkins of the Arts and Crafts movement, Pewabic is renowned for its iridescent glazes used to tile Detroit’s prestigious buildings and residences, as well as Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the Nebraska State Capitol. Children will tour the fabrication studio, the extensive ware shop, then attend a workshop allowing them to hone their pottery skills in an intimate setting with ceramic artists. The youth leaders will return to the studio later to pick up the artwork after they have fired them for us.  Go to http://www.pewabic.org and find out more.

2) Michigan Science Center

We’ll walk three blocks East of the WSU campus along Midtown’s Putnam Street to the 10th largest science museum in the country. Greatly expanded since its opening in 1970, this modern center features hundreds of hands-on exhibits with special attention to youth groups. Depending on the time, we’ll experience whales on the biggest IMAX screen in the state, a theater for examining electromagnetism, and/or the planetarium. Science is not too dry and abstract here! 

Visit http://www.mi-sci.org to see more.

3) Greenfield Village

We’ll drive about ten miles west to one of the most exciting places in the country. On 80 acres surrounding the famous Henry Ford Museum, we’ll have a chance to visit almost 100 historic structures that have been moved to this location, including the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop, Lincoln’s courthouse, Ford’s garage, Noah Webster’s home, and many others. There are Model T’s, 19th century baseball games, a 19th century steam engine, an antique carousel and paddle boat, artisans at work, a working farm, and hundreds of historical re-enactors showing us cooking, crafts, telling stories, and giving the youth a look at many American historical events. Who knows what will sidetrack us? And there’s no way to see everything in one afternoon! 

Visit http://www.thehenryford.org/village/index.aspx for more details.

- Joel Bartlett

Conference Links

Main Conference Schedule

Youth Workshop Schedule 

Registration Form

VisitDetroit.com

Lyre 2015 Pedagogy Conference

Lyre 2015 Pedagogy Conference

This week’s Lyre 2015 update will focus on our Third International Lyre Pedagogy Conference.  During informal lunchtime meetings at Lyre 2006 in Northern Ireland, many lyre teachers expressed a strong desire to create a forum for teachers of the lyre where experience and methodology could be shared and deepened, and where it might be possible to establish personal relationships with other colleagues involved with lyre pedagogy.  Anna Prokovnick Cooper and Sarah Boyd, organizers of Lyre 2006, along with Channa Seidenberg and Sheila Johns from the US, heard this call as a mandate, and we began working toward such a future possibility even before we departed from Belfast!  The result was our first-ever Lyre Pedagogy Conference in Sweden in 2009, attended by over 40 teachers and other interested lyrists.  Teachers from a number of countries shared with the full group their personal pedagogical experience, and we agreed enthusiastically to do more of this kind of work together.  In 2012 in Überlingen, Germany, a similarly large group assembled to take up this work once again.  For this Second Lyre Pedagogy Conference, we held breakout sessions distinguished by various types of lyre teaching, surrounding these focus sessions with full group singing, improvising, and meaningful dialogue.

 This summer, for Lyre 2015, we are pleased to report that so far we have 33 teachers and friends registered for our Third International Pedagogy Conference, and we are hoping and expecting to be joined by others!  We will begin on Saturday evening, August 1st, with registration beginning at 4:30 pm, supper at 6:00 pm, and a 7:30 pm opening session where we will meet each other as well as sing and play together.  For our full day on Sunday, following a brief opening, all participants will have the opportunity to choose 2 of 6 areas of lyre teaching focus as shown below – one from the three Youth Groups, and one from the three Adult Groups:

 ·         Kinder Harp/Early Childhood

·         Lower School Age

·         Adolescents 

·         Beginning Adults

·         Intermediate Adults

·         Older Adults/Special Needs Adults

During the morning hours on Sunday, the groups will focus on approach and teaching methodology for the various ages and stages.  Following our lunch break, the same groups will deepen their focus on the application of teaching methods to include repertoire and practical matters.  On Sunday evening, we will come together in the full group to share conclusions and repertoire from the three Youth Groups.   

On Monday morning, we will share together what came out of the three Adult Groups, concluding with directed conversation of the whole group, which may well extend into our final lunch together!  There will then be time for a nice afternoon break before the opening of our Main Conference that night. 

We are eager to take our pedagogy focus to another level for Lyre 2015 and are confident that the widespread experience and enthusiasm of this special gathering of teachers will create a rich and inspiring event for all who attend!  If you have not already registered, please consider joining us, and if you know of anyone who would be interested in understanding more about learning to play the lyre, this unique gathering will have something for everyone who loves the lyre and wishes to see it develop and thrive in the world! 

To complement the music we will share informally at our Pedagogy Conference, don’t forget our official lyre music store that will be up and running during our Main Conference, carrying volumes of music from many countries!  Please see the following note from Music Sales coordinator, Samantha Embrey. 

Sheila Johns, May 30, 2015     

Detroit, Michigan – “City of Heart and Soul”

Detroit, Michigan – “City of Heart and Soul”

 Witnessing spring, we are amazed at how bountiful plants grow out of rocky, seemingly lifeless soil. This fact of metamorphosis can also be seen as the forces of growth of individuals and even whole communities. Just as tender seedlings emerge from apparently barren ground, so too can societies be reborn out of disorganization. Over the course of time, a number of urban areas have re-emerged from a place of darkness. One example is Detroit, Michigan, once a bustling, vital economic center, which experienced a plunge into less favorable times. Yet this mid-western city, perched between Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, is showing clear signs of regeneration. Detroit is re-defining itself and reforming in new and positive ways.

 It is a place of great opportunity. The enthusiasm to revitalize the area was recently likened to the California Gold Rush, as demonstrated by the people who have flocked to Detroit to take advantage of the low housing prices and favorable investment prospects.*  Many have come to start businesses and take part in the rebuilding process. These people, dedicated to realizing Detroit’s potential, have arrived with creative ideas to remake this urban setting. 

It is both the charm and the challenges that draw people to Detroit. The list of new initiatives continues to grow. There are those who have bought up dilapidated structures and are refurbishing them; others who have opened restaurants, sporting goods stores, and coffee shops. One man used his own money to purchase vacant lots and gather volunteers to plant 15,000 trees.*  The transformation of broken down neighborhoods into attractive areas is on the rise.

It is this community spirit that inspires LANA to embrace this region of our country during the upcoming International Lyre conference. This deed of consciously carrying the torch of human dignity into places that have been affected by abandonment can be of great spiritual significance for all of us.   

 It is our sincere hope to bring the healing aspects of the lyre and singing to an area that can benefit meaningfully.  By offering the musical element it is our wish to engender camaraderie and give voice to hope for new beginnings. In this way, we will spread the music of the lyre and our voices over a land that will most appreciate these gestures of good will. 

Catherine Decker, May 18, 2015    

      *Excerpted from Susan Ager’s article “Tough, Cheap, Real – Detroit is Cool Again,” in National Geographic, April 2015.

 For more information about the remaking of Detroit, see: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/why-business-owners-are-setting-shop-michigan