Book Review: “SAFE FROM THE STORM” for Lyres and Harps by John Billing

Book Review: “SAFE FROM THE STORM” for Lyres and Harps by John Billing

[Reviewed by John Clark, Kilkenny, Ireland]

Did John Billing have a premonition of the great Covid storm all humanity would face in the months following its composition? Certainly, it was a great help to me, playing this piece during this fearful and alarming period, and I began to notice that its gentle syncopations can have a steadying and soothing effect, though I would have expected the opposite to be the case.

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Book Review: “FROM IRELAND WITH LOVE” for Lyres and Harps, by John Billing

Book Review: “FROM IRELAND WITH LOVE” for Lyres and Harps, by John Billing

[Reviewed by John Clark, Kilkenny, Ireland]

Here in Ireland we talk a lot about “the living tradition”. We mean by this term that there is not only the performance of traditional and well known music from the folk tradition in nooks and crannies all over the country, but also the creation of new repertoire, sometimes with a quite modern twist, continually finding its way into the canon of Irish Traditional Music.

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Lyre Day Greetings from around the World

We are so pleased to see all the appreciative and supportive comments from various parts of the world! Amazingly, it is clear that we ended up touching and involving more people many times over than if we had held our original conference in person. Under normal circumstances, this would never be a true substitute, of course, but it has nevertheless proven to be a very satisfying and rewarding alternative in this particular year. Bravo and gratitude to all!

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International Lyre Day is next week... are you ready?

We are hoping you will plan to join the worldwide lyre community for the first-ever International Lyre Day which is coming up soon! Our vision is that the day will begin on Monday, July 20th at 10:00 a.m. U.S. EDT, but please feel free to tailor the date and time to the needs of your region.

This is going to be a wonderful event and a much-needed sharing of community during these unusual times. We hope that whether you are in a group or alone, meeting on July 20th or thereabout, you will feel uplifted and inspired by the music and readings, the connection with new friends and old, and the beautiful sound of the lyre!

Here are some suggestions to help you prepare for the day:

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Thank you to our hosts!

HOSTS (so far) for Lyre Day:

  • Lehighton, Pennsylvania - Contact: Veronika Roemer, vbrtnstn@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2D6XyVz

  • Kimberton, Pennsylvania - Contact: Margo Ketchum, lyrists@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2VLg3oZ

  • Hillsdale, New York - Contact: Diane Barnes, dianeibarnes1@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/3e27pZI

  • St. Louis, Missouri - Contact: Aria Thome, aria.e.thome@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2VPz6i1

  • Lambertville, Michigan - Contact: Mary Lynn and Burley Channer, bdchanner @yahoo.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2Z1aNjp

  • St Paul, Minnesota - Contact: Marianne Dietzel, mariannemdietzel@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2W3z6LA

  • Chicago, Illinois - Contact: Debbie Barford, dsbarford@yahoo.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/3eeBLbD

  • France (and Zoom) - Contact: Anna Cooper, aprokhovnik@hotmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2AAg5c1

  • Stroud, UK - Contact: Christine Hudson, chudsonharp@yahoo.co.uk; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2ZMeOaB

  • Selangor, Malaysia - Contact: Lau Yee Ching, lauyeeching519@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2BMir8n

  • Johor, Malaysia - Contact: Tang Woan Yun, careentang76@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2WaB3pp

  • Japan - Contact: Yumi Nemoto, kyklos02@gmail.com; Survey details: https://bit.ly/3e6tcQ3

  • Zhuhai, China - Contact: Thomas Pedroli, thomas.pedroli@posteo.de; Survey details: https://bit.ly/2AN4uXl

If you are planning to participate, either alone or in a group, please let us know at lyrists@gmail.com, so that we can all feel ourselves a part of the larger lyre community.

Please share a photo with us (and on the World Lyre Community Facebook page).

Nancy, Margo, Sheila, and Julia – for the LANA Board
Lyre Association of North America
lyrists@gmail.com
http://lyreassociation.org/lyreday