Lyre Association of North America
By Saeko Cohn, Nyack, New York
Resonare’s convivial learning atmosphere allowed me to turn-off temporarily my judging-self and immerse myself while enjoying the phenomenon that we call music in a meaningful way.
Read MoreBy Kayoko Matsubara, Hong Kong
Since the ancient lyre also plays an important part in Greek mythology, the chairman of Japan Panflute Association (JPA), Mr. Atsushi Nakamura, invited me to play together with him in Greece. We played two musical tunes, old and new, which are well explained in the this YouTube video.
Read Moreby Veronika Roemer, Quakertown, PA: This past July I had the great fortune to attend the second lyre academy in Germany, with Christian Giersch and Martin Tobiassen as the organizers and teachers.
and by Saeko Cohn, Nyack, New York: This one-week lyre “boot camp” in Germany provided everything that I needed after my Resonare course: to improve my lyre playing skill and play more music in ensembles.
Read MoreHere in Brazil our work with the Kântele musical instruments with parents and teachers has grown in the last year.
Read MoreBy Kerry Lee, Spring City, PA
With the help of friends and the angels, I was able to attend the conference celebrating Julius Knierim’s 100th birthday and the Independent Music School.
Read MoreBy Kerry Lee, Spring City, PA, USA
Finland: I had the great privilege to take part in the meeting of two great teachers in Finland, Christiaan Boele and Thomas Adam.
Read MoreLyre Connections . . . (Contact lyrists@gmail.com to see if there’s a lyre buddy in your region.)
Read MoreWe are excited to be able to offer two new books of Colin Tanser’s music through our music sales service. The two collections, The Eight-fold Path, Days and Planets and More Songs by Colin Tanser (both published by Upper Esk Music), remind us of why we love Colin Tanser’s music so much.
Read MoreIn July 2019 seventeen students completed the 2nd East Coast School of Uncovering the Voice Foundational Training taught by master teacher Christiaan Boele and another 24 new students attended the annual summer East Coast Singing Retreat.
Read MoreThe Board of LANA is recommending an increase to an additional $25 for our Supporting Membership category, which would mean an annual contribution of $65 instead of $50. We warmly invite you to consider making this increased tax-deductible contribution as a Supporting Member of the Lyre Association of North America.
Read More(Special note: These books have been marked down
to half price in our online music sales store!)
During this trip, I gave a course to adults in how to play the children's lyre. We met daily for 11 two-hour sessions over six days. Each participant, 12 ladies, had her own lyre, most of which were Chinese models. I used the newly published book "How to play the Children's Lyre by Gerhard Beilharz," but I also added my own improvisation and group games.
Read MoreNow is the time to start planning for the summer! Whether you are interested in voice, lyre, music education, or all of the above, there is something for everyone and every level. Explore these national and international retreats, conferences, symposiums and academies on our events page (click here to go to Events).
Read MoreI have been volunteering for six months in a hospice environment. A friend of mine recently loaned me a pentatonic children’s lyre which has seven strings and is quite small.
Read MoreIn the beginning of the 19th century, the folksongs of the Hebrides were collected and recorded by Marjory Kennedy Fraser and Kenneth Macleod. Piano accompaniments for the songs were composed by Marjory Kennedy.
Read MoreSlow Airs - For solo or ensemble playing on melodic and accompanying instruments, selected and arranged with chord indications and embellishments - by J. S. Clark. (Volumes 1 and 2 published in 2018 - Volume 3 now available.)
Read More...and would love to include a contribution from you for our Spring 2019 edition of Lyre Notes! We welcome news, stories, photos, and announcements of lyre happenings in your region. Our copy deadline is March 15th. We look forward to hearing from you!!
Please send your contributions to wendypolich@hotmail.com.
LANA's online music/book store, click here.
Recent blog posts and book reviews, click here.
Upcoming events in your area or worldwide, click here.
Back issues of Lyre Notes, click here.
LANA membership, or if you need to renew, click here.
Thank you and happy lyre playing!
Wendy Polich, Lyre Notes Editor
Lyre Association of North America
wendypolich@hotmail.com
www.lyreassociation.org
This book, a guide for playing the 7-string pentatonic children’s lyre, originally published in German by Mechthild Laier and Gerhard Beilharz, has been newly translated by Veronika Roemer and edited by Sheila Johns.
“This booklet is meant for parents and teachers who wish to sing and play music for or with preschool children. In this context, the 7-string pentatonic children’s lyre has proven to be an easily accessible musical instrument. In these pages, Laier and Beilharz introduce a playing technique step-by-step. Those who cannot read music will learn to do so at the same time. They give suitable examples of songs, ideas for improvisations, and discuss situations where the pentatonic children’s lyre is of particular help, i.e., at bedtime, or to accompany a story with music. In the addendum, you will find practical tips for tuning and putting on new strings as well as suggestions for further development, reference material, and contacts.”
By Elisabeth Swisher, Chicago, IL
In October 2018, I taught morning circle movement and music (lyres included) to the Module 2 students of the WECC (Waldorf Early Childhood China) training at a mountain resort near Xi’an, in the north of China. One day, in the second week, we all met in our luncheon room at the hotel, and Guoqi, our training coordinator, brought in two guests, both musicians, who came from the province of Zhuhai in the south of China, where they had just attended a music workshop with LANA president Sheila Johns, sponsored by local lyrist Vicky (Zhiying) Deng.
Sheila Johns and Vicky Deng with Angel Wing children’s lyres
Both of the student musicians live in Xi’an, and for some reason, Vicky apparently knew that I was in Xi’an and asked them to bring one of her Angel Wing children’s lyres to me as a gift from her. So the man gave me this black case and said “it is a gift….” I had no idea what was in the case, and when I opened it and found a lovely letter from Vicky along with one of her beautiful Angel Wing lyres, I was overwhelmed by such an amazing surprise and generous gift from her. In my afternoon class, I showed and played my new lyre for the students right away, and they immediately wanted to know where they might purchase one. It took me awhile to find her phone number and email address to thank her and to ask where the students could order one of her lyres.
So why did she give me this lyre right out of the blue? The year before, I was in Zhuhai, mentoring kindergarten teachers (as well as doing graduation assessments) and giving some musical advice to grade school teachers, including the importance of practicing their lyres. Vicky was there to help. One day, she asked me if I could have a look at a new lyre that she had designed and built with other people whom I had not met. When I saw this lyre, I was astonished at how beautiful it was sculpted and finished and how wonderful it sounded - better than any model I had heard before! Even the Choroi kinderharp, which I had esteemed the highest quality among all the ones I had seen and heard, did not sound as beautiful as this to my ear. I shared these impressions with Vicky, emphasizing how happy it made me to see such a high quality lyre created in China, where I had seen so many cheap but poor copies of the well-known Swedish and German kinderharps. This lyre not only looks beautiful and sounds exceptionally good, but it is also easy to tune and keeps the tuning pretty well, too.
Vicky Deng playing the Angel Wing lyre
Vicky told me that the lyre was given to me as a response to the praise I gave to this new creation, which helped her to be confident about her work and research. It made me very happy and deeply grateful for this experience: the surprise as well as the instrument itself, which was created with such love and care.
Usually on my trips to China, I do not take my own lyre with me in order to save weight and volume in my luggage, but now, I have to, because there is not yet another such Angel Wing lyre available for my teaching, and I do not wish to play any other children’s lyre anymore. I wish Vicky and the group she is working with, musical and financial success with the creation of these new and beautiful instruments.
