Thank you!

An update on Crowd-funding to help replace a lyre lost by fire ...

Thank you so much for those who kindly supported Laura Langford Schnur. She is truly touched by the generosity of her lyre colleagues around the world. As of today, we have raised $1740 for her to buy a new lyre. In good health and spirit, Laura is looking forward to purchasing a Derscheid Legacy soprano lyre, which the Pennsylvania-based lyre builder Alan Thewless will complete soon. Laura is thrilled to serve LANA and the international lyre community again, and she has already helped us to find a supplier of Maria Renold’s twelve-fifth tuning forks, which will soon become available in LANA’s online store.

On behalf of Laura, we would like to thank you again for supporting her so generously. For those of you who still wish to support her, the GoFundMe website will remain open until March 3.

We wish you all happy and healthy mid-winter weeks, until the spring comes again. -Saeko Cohn, for the Lyre Association of North America

Announcing the 8th World Lyre Conference

August 8-15, 2021, in the Czech Republic (Český Krumlov)

[From our colleagues in the Czech Republic]
Dear Friends of the Lyre,

First of all, we wish you a happy New Year 2021. May the new year bring us time to engage together with music and our fellow musicians, and focus on our mutual health, energy, and insight into everything that comes to meet us.

I know that the current situation is very difficult for everybody, and we do not know what the future holds. The words of Flavia Betti, a lyre teacher from Brazil, speak deeply to me in our current world situation: “The living strength of the tone has never been more evident to me. Never has music been more needed...“ Recognizing the importance of music and especially the lyre at this time, and all the important impulses from teachers, players or lyre-builders, we continue to prepare optimistically for the World Lyre Conference and the Pedagogical Conference in 2021.

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In this spirit, I would like to invite you to participate in the preparation and realization of the 8th World Lyre Conference, to be held in the Czech Republic (Český Krumlov) from the 8th of August to the 15th of August 2021. The theme is:

The Presence of Spirit
Playing the Lyre as an Art of Presence

(We know that the translation of the Czech version of the theme “Duchapřítomnost” or the German version of the theme “Geistesgegenwart” into English is not entirely accurate, but perhaps we will find together an even more suitable English term.)

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The 8th World Lyre Conference

The conference will include a program for players of all levels (the workshops for children and young players and the workshops for beginners and for advanced players) and a meeting with the builders of musical instruments and a meeting with publishers of musical literature and notes.

The World Lyre Conference will be preceded by the Pedagogical Conference from the 6th to the 8th of August. The Pedagogical Conference will focus on the development of an internationally networked lyre teacher training.

Each day we have scheduled eight workshops in the morning focused on the conference theme, nine workshops in the afternoon, focused on any topic of potential interest, one morning workshop for children and young players, and evening lectures or concerts.

Call for participation

Dear friends, we are looking for workshop-leaders, lecturers, concert players and national coordinators and of course all participants.

Workshop-leader, Lecturers

We are seeking some more workshop-leaders for our morning workshops (on the main theme of the conference), nine workshop-leaders for the afternoon workshops (topics of potential interest), some more workshop-leaders for workshops of the Pedagogical Conference and lecturers for evening lectures. The workshop for children and young players will be led by music therapist Hong Chang Kim and myself (Helena Hlaváčková).

The conference fee, accommodation, and meals are fully covered for lecturers.

If you are interested in participating as a workshop leader, lecturer, please send a proposal for the title of your workshop or lecture, a short description and a brief biography of your experience to the main coordinator. See the email addresses below and examples in www.lyra-symposium.cz/en/world-lyre-conference2021/.

Workshop or lecture proposals (1. Name, 2. The title of the workshop or the lecture and a short description, 3. A short biography).

The final date for submitted proposals is 28. 2. 2021.

Concert players

We have scheduled a lecture or a concert for each evening. If you are interested in participating as a concert player, please send a proposal for the title of your musical piece (with its time), and your brief biography to the main coordinator.

National/Regional coordinators

We are looking for a volunteer from each country or region who would be willing to cooperate with us and help us to promote the Conference to schools, Camphills, and other initiatives. If you are interested, please let me know by the 28. 2. 2021.

Participants

The expected capacity of the Lyre conference is 150 participants, and 60 participants at the Pedagogical conference. The final size of the event depends on the development of the pandemic and the amount of interest we receive from lyre players around the world.

We have pre-booked accommodation in Český Krumlov (some of the reservations are valid only until April 2021).

A detailed program of the Conference should be distributed in March together with the sheet music for workshops and music in the plenum. At the end of April, we must also consider the pandemic situation concerning our conference. Please visit our webpage at www.lyra-symposium.cz/en and for more information please contact our coordinators. See below.

For now, you can dream about our common music-making in the beautiful baroque spaces of Český Krumlov – the castle Riding Hall (http://www.zameckajizdarna.cz/en/) and Monasteries (https://www.klasteryck.cz/en/monasteries-cesky-krumlov/), where the conference will take place. You can look forward to a rich program including eurythmy and meditation work, various workshops, evening concerts or lectures, the main concert of all participants, and last but not least, the opening lecture, which will be on the topic: “The Lyre – The Light´s Rays”.

We know that the situation is complicated at the moment, and we are aware of the possibility of postponing the conference for a year, but so far we are hopeful of a favorable development.

In the event of cancelation full refund will be made. We cannot be held responsible for canceled accommodation. We appreciate any feedback regarding your participation or non-participation.

I hope that our general conference theme, as well as the topic of the main conference lecture, bring light to these difficult times. Please share this e-mail with your lyre friends.

With warm regards,
Helena Hlaváčková (Bartošová) with Jan Braunstein and the conference team

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Conference team members:

• Helena Hlaváčková (Bartošová) - organizer and main coordinator (helena.hlavackova@centrum.cz), available also in my old e-mail helenabartosova@centrum.cz)

• Jan Braunstein - artistic director and coordinator of the main concert (atelier@delos.cz)

• Gerhard Beilharz - coordinator for the publishers of sheet music (info@leier-forum.com)

• Martin Tobiassen - coordinator of Pedagogical conference (martin.tobiassen@googlemail.com)

• Gundolf Kuehn - coordinator for the lyre builders (gundolf.kuehn@t-online.de)

• Kateřina Křováková - coordinator for accommodation (cariadwr@gmail.com)

• Alena Pekařová – coordinator for meals (apekarova@seznam.cz)

Workshop-leaders, Lecturers: Jan Braunstein, John Billing, Yannis Pantazis, Hana Adamcová, Duncan Mackintosh, Hong Chang Kim, Helena Hlaváčková (Bartošová)….)

Book Review: "An Irish Collection for the Lyre"

We are excited to offer Anna Prokhovnik Cooper’s most recent collection of music for lyre groups. An Irish Collection for the Lyre contains arrangements of 16 traditional Irish tunes as well as melodies by Turlough O’Carolan and a beautiful nocturne by 19th-century Irish composer, John Field. The pieces are set for different combinations of lyres: some for solo lyre, some for duos, and some for two soprano lyres and an alto. Notably, the collection contains a group of tunes entitled “Three Pieces for Lyre Teacher and Pupil” (“Kerry Slide,” “Buttered Peas,” and “South Wind”) that are duos arranged simply so that early players can join in with confidence.

The composer says: “… I find that Irish music speaks to us all in a special way. It expresses fun, sadness, joy and pain in a way we can all relate to.” This collection truly taps into the range of human experiences and emotions that Irish music so vividly embodies. From the haunting “She Moved Through the Fair” to the joyous, energetic “John O’Connor,” Anna Cooper has artfully set pieces that are moving and resonant, suiting the lyre perfectly. And because the arrangements accommodate so many different groupings, there is something for everyone.

With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, we highly recommend this beautiful collection of Irish music!

Julia Elliott, for LANA Music Sales

A Milestone for LANA Music Sales!

Veronika Roemer made the 500th sale in our Music Sales store! To honor this achievement, we are giving Veronika a tote bag from the Detroit 2015 Lyre Conference. Congratulations, Veronika!

Veronika Roemer is the prize-winner of a LYRE 2015 bag!

Veronika’s student, Mckenna Von Gleich, with “Come with me to the West”

And what did the “500 sales” consist of? We established the store online in May, 2018, and have printed books, music, and accessories for sale. We also use the store for various online conference registrations and other donations. Most recently, we have been offering free downloads of music for our members and friends.

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Top Selling Books

• A Guide to Playing the Pentatonic Children's Lyre, by Beilharz and Laier

• How To Play Lyre: A Beginner's Guide, by Cooper, Anna

• Meeting the Lyre: Introduction for Adult Beginners Beilharz, Gerhard

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Please review the breakdowns of the transactions below. It is notable that, although we are an association in North America, we also had book and music sales to 10 countries outside the US and Canada, comprising 20 percent of the total. And look at our almost $9K in revenue – nearly half came from books and music. That’s over 400 total books from 37 composers and 130+ titles!

Our work with the “Kerry Lee Collection” is just beginning, and we expect the sales that benefit Kerry’s family to increase over the course of the year. And we prepared a special chart to show the “miscellaneous” item breakdown.

We consider our Music Sales store to be a ringing success (pardon the pun!) and are receiving new items or replenishing with regularity. Maybe we’ll hit 1000 in less than the 2 ½ years it took to reach 500.

Crowd Funding to help Laura replace her lyre lost by fire

Afflicted by the pandemic, the year 2020 was an extraordinarily challenging year for all of us. As we turn the page on the beginning of a new year, we wish to bring to the attention of our LANA members and friends the great personal tragedy that our lyre colleague Laura Langford Schnur has had to endure over the last seven months.

Today, more than half a year after a tragic fire at the Fellowship Community in New York, we are asking for your support to help Laura fund the purchase of a new lyre to replace the one she lost. Our goal is to raise $3000 for this purpose.

Laura’s lyre, a beloved John Bryan solo lyre, was severely damaged. Due to its unique shape and construction, any restoration has proved impossible.

Please help if you can. We are grateful for your kind support.

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Maria Renold's Approach to Tuning

The “Twelve Fifth-Tone Tuning” method was developed by a concert violinist Maria Renold (1917-2003) in 1962. It is a non-tempered system of tuning by perfect 5ths and 4ths at A432. Laura Lanford Schnur studied with Mrs. Renold in Dornach, Switzerland and elsewhere, giving numerous demonstrations (often in collaboration with lyrist Kerry Lee) and wrote essays on the subject over the last twenty years, several of which were published in LANA newsletters. Elegantly written and based on her own study and long-time observations, Laura has documented the efficacy and therapeutic nature of the Maria Renold tuning, vis-à-vis conventional or “equal tempered” tuning on the lyre. These articles will be re-published in upcoming issues of LANA’s annual journal Soundings.

Maria Renold on Twelve 5th Tone Tuning

A longtime member of the Lyre Association and graduate of the Dorian School of Music Therapy, Laura is known in her community as an enthusiastic promoter of this Twelve-Fifth-Tone Tuning, and as a musician, she has tirelessly contributed to the enrichment of musical life at the Threefold Community in Chestnut Ridge, New York. People there still fondly recall the annual performances of Rudolf Steiner's mystery dramas during 2009-14, for which Laura acted as music director and composed music.

We invite you to click the titles below to read more about Laura and her contribution to the work of the Lyre Association of North America through her articles and presentations on this important approach to tuning. In addition, please look for reprints of one or two of these articles in an upcoming edition of our Soundings journal.

• Maria Renold Obituary, from Vol. 45 of The Lyre Newsletter, Ascension 2003

• “The 12–5th Tones Scale and Developing the Tuning Ear”, from Vol. 37 of The Lyre Newsletter, January 2000

• “The World of Tunings”, from Vol. 41 of The Lyre Newsletter, from Vol. 41 of The Lyre Newsletter, May 2001

LYRE NOTES – Back Issues

• Annual Report 2025-2026

• Advent 2025

• Annual Report 2024-2025

• Spring 2025 (booklet), PDF (to download)

• Advent 2024

• Annual Report 2023-2024

• Spring 2024

• Advent 2023

• Annual Report 2022-2023

• Summer 2023

• Conference Notes Lyre 2023

• Annual Report 2021-2022

• Spring 2022

• Advent 2021

• Michaelmas 2021

• Annual Report 2020-2021

• Advent 2020

• Michaelmas 2020

• Annual Report 2019-2020

• Advent 2019

• Fall 2019

• Annual Report 2018

• Spring 2019

• Advent 2018

• Michaelmas 2018

• Annual Report 2017

• Advent 2017

• Michaelmas 2017

• Summer 2017

• Spring 2017

• Michaelmas 2016

• Winter 2016

• Michaelmas 2015

• Candlemas 2015

• Fall 2014

• Summer 2014

• Spring 2014

• Winter 2013

Previous Issues of Lyre Notes 

• Year-end Greetings 2016

• Season's Greetings from LANA 2012

• Fall 2012

• LYRE 2012 International Lyre Conference

• Spring 2012

• Fall 2011 / Winter 2012

• Spring 2011

• Winter 2011

• Fall 2010

• Spring 2010

• Winter 2010

• Winter 2009

• Fall 2008

• Spring 2008

• Winter 2008

• Fall 2007

• Spring 2007

• Winter 2007

 For previous issues see our archives here.

We Each Live in the Other

Dear Friends of the Lyre,
In case you missed it, here is a link to our recent edition of Lyre Notes. Enjoy!

There are just 3 days left this year and what better way to say goodbye to 2020 than by giving a tax-deductible gift of support for the work of the Lyre Association of North America!

You can make your end-of-year donation via PayPal (click link) or send a check to:

The Lyre Association of North America
2237 Kimberton Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460
(Attn: Annual Fund 2020)

On behalf of our community of lyrists, we thank you for your generosity in this year of extraordinary challenges.

Enjoy a free download for 2021 – “We Each Live in the Other” by Channa Seidenberg.

“We Each Live in the Other,"“ by Channa Seidenberg

New in our LANA Store . . . THE KERRY LEE COLLECTION

The Lyre Association of North America is pleased to present The Kerry Lee Collection, a compilation of Kerry’s personal literature and music.

Kerry Lee, our beloved lyre colleague, crossed the threshold on September 8, 2020. A lifelong student and committed teacher, Kerry acquired many books on education, teaching, and self-development over the years. The collection she left behind includes books on curative music therapy, music education and pedagogy, science, religion, health and healing, the natural world, and anthroposophy as well as volumes of music. Books have always been highly valued in the Lee family, so most are in good condition and some are like new.

To browse and select items in our store, click the button above and go to “KL Collection” (A-M & N-Z). You can also view The Kerry Lee Collection catalog here.

All proceeds will go to the Lee family.

Kerry Virginia Lee (6/26/47 - 9/8/20)

Give the Gift of Music!

This year especially we are in need of music to cheer us, to nourish us, and to light our path through the lengthening days. If you are looking for seasonal music to support your Advent or Christmas festivals, be sure check out LANA’s music store. We have lyre and choral music as well as beautiful notecards, CD’s and accessories. For this month, we particularly recommend Colin Tanser’s Madonna Healing Sequence, Beatrijs Gradenwitz’ setting of Olaf Asteson, and Christof-Andreas Lindenberg’s In Praise of the Seasons (plus the Child’s Praise of the Seasons for ages 7 to 14). We also have beautiful Madonna cards and Olaf Asteson notecards which make lovely gifts.

And for the lyrists in your life who are eager to expand their repertoire, we have new music by John Billing, John Clark, Anna Cooper, Thomas Pedroli and Colin Tanser. For soloists or ensembles, pentatonic or chromatic lyres, and even for recorders, gongs, and voices…. you will find music for everyone who needs it right now.

Click here to see our catalog.

Our store features music books and journals, PDF downloads, and accessories. For a current list of featured book reviews click here. Be sure to check the LANA blog for monthly reviews!

Calling for Contributions for Lyre Notes for Advent 2020

We welcome news, stories, short articles, photos, and announcements of lyre happenings in your region, reviews about any item in our music sales store, and ads from our members ... also your favorite songs to play at your region’s Advent Gardens.

The copy deadline is November 29th.

We look forward to hearing from you!!  Contributions may be sent to wendypolich@hotmail.com.

From the Kimberton Ensemble’s list….

Visit www.lyreassociation.org!

• Learn more about LANA membership, or renew.

• See back issues of Lyre Notes.

• Our online store (click here) features music books and journals, PDF downloads, and accessories.

• See a current list of featured book reviews.

• Be sure to check the LANA blog for monthly reviews!

Book Review: “Variety and Poetry - A New Volume of Preludes for Soprano Lyre” by John Billing

Second Book of 8 Preludes for Soprano Lyre

A new volume of preludes for soprano lyre by John Billing

[Reviewed by Christian Giersch, Germany]

It is always very fortunate for the lyre and its development when compositions arise that are inspired entirely by the lyre itself and how it is played, rather than by imaginations of different instruments. Regarding the preludes by John Billing one can say that they are sounding forth straight out of the heart of the instrument. And no explanations are necessary in order for them to be understood by the human soul.

Each piece is given a clear key signature which, in most cases, is never veered from (there are hardly any accidentals). In this way the composer achieves a very deep in-breathing of the respective tonal sphere in major or minor. Equally clear and approachable are the rhythmical motifs, which give each piece it's individual character. Here has come about a wonderful unity between imagination (in the invention) and consequence (in keeping with a motif). And while practicing, the player will be richly rewarded, although the pieces are not for beginners. They come out of a musical realm of thirds, which we think we know from the classical and romantic periods. But these pieces present this realm as if in a new, clear and unsentimental light, as is the case with so many other pieces by John Billing.

I wish the preludes many industrious players — thank you, John!

A “Second Book of 8 Preludes for Soprano Lyre” is available in our web store as a printed booklet (click here), or as a PDF download (click here). Our store features music books and journals, PDF downloads, and accessories. For a current list of featured book reviews click here. Be sure to check the LANA blog for monthly reviews!

For the Lyre Mantle Project: "A Piece for Musical Clock" by Joseph Haydn

Arranged by Veronika Roemer for the Lyre Mantle Project

“I found this delightful little piece in a volume of piano arrangements of music Haydn wrote for musical clocks. I'm always hunting for classical music suitable for lyre arrangement, and this one seems to fit the bill quite well!” -Veronika Roemer, Quakertown, PA

Click here for the PDF download

A message from Kerry Lee's children

Dear Lyre Association and colleagues of our loving mother,

We would like to ask whether there are any instruments belonging to Kerry out there; likewise, whether Kerry had borrowed any instruments from someone who hasn’t gotten them returned. If so, please email lyrists@gmail.com.

We would also like to use this opportunity to extend our deepest gratitude for the help, support, and love shown to our mother over the past six months during her illness. It was a wonderful display of compassion and solidarity. Thank you.

Best wishes,

Cameron, Heather, and Jennifer

Note from LANA:  Coming soon we will be offering a page in our web store containing music books from Kerry Lee's personal collection.  All proceeds will go to Kerry's family.