Make an Ancient Greek Lyre
A hands-on music-making course in Buffalo, New York, 14–17 April 2027
A 4-day workshop led by Barnaby Brown making and playing lyres, singing and dancing ancient Greek rhythms.
One of two consecutive events: this lyre course is followed by an aulos course, 17–20 April 2027. Buy one, get one half price!
Early Bird! 20% off until 9 November
Join us making lyres, singing ancient Greek, and dancing in Buffalo, USA. Guided by Lotos Lab’s Barnaby Brown, you’ll make your own ‘trans-historical’ lyre and learn how play and compose for it exploring ancient rhythms, modes, and tunings. Through craft workshops, one on one coaching, and collaborative sessions, you’ll gain practical skills and fresh perspectives on the lyre and its leading role in the ancient world. Open to all levels – musicians, educators, researchers, students, anyone interested in ancient cultures – the course offers practical training in lyre making, playing, and holistic musicianship development while engaging with ancient Greek materials.
- Take home your own hand-crafted lyre.
- Practise new techniques and rhythms through one-on-one lessons and group coaching.
- 22 hours of tutor time with world-leading specialists in lyre-led music making based on ancient evidence.
- Discover ancient music through practical experiment: making, singing, playing, composing, and performing.
- Join an international community bringing archaeological evidence to life, rousing the music and literature of ancient civilizations from their long silence!
Lotos Lab is running two courses consecutively in April at Benten Music Center in Buffalo. Immediately after the lyre course is another focusing on making and playing the ancient Greek aulos. You could go home with two instruments and twice as much music! We offer a buy-1-get-1-half-price deal if you sign up for both courses.
What participants say:
“I felt my brain come to life with the multidisciplinary learning: strumming lyre chords, singing Ancient Greek, all while circle dancing!”
“I very much enjoyed the “experience first” based approach that mimics the aural tradition.”
“I’ve been to many instrument making courses and symposia, but this is by far one of the best! The fact that you get an instrument made by yourself at the end of it , on top of all the research, is the cherry on the cake!”
“I felt completely safe doing things that are normally out of my comfort zone. [Barnaby] was so positive and I think that makes a huge difference because it makes us more confident.”
All the practical info
Dates and times
14–17 April 2027 (2 whole days + 2 half days). Participants are welcome to arrive the night before, or earlier in the day, for informal conversations or individual sessions before the lyre-making course begins at 3pm on Wednesday 14 April. Accommodation is available from 3pm on Tuesday 13 April.
Wednesday 14 April
3pm–6pm Make the soundbox of your lyre, tying a wet goatskin to a resonant bowl, then leaving it to dry overnight. The Lotos Lab Lyre Kit is a trans-historical, culturally-inclusive instrument with a great sound designed as a workhorse for practising, experimentation, and ease of customization (fitting any hand size or number of strings, turning the bridge 180° to switch a begena-style buzz on or off).
Thursday 15 April
10am–6pm Finish making your lyre, following each step described in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. Learn how to attach and tune strings as described by Homer in the Odyssey (Book 21: 406–9). Begin making music, looking closely at iconography for guidance on playing position and use of plectrum. Zoom session with Nikos Xanthoulis on lyre techniques. Rhythm workouts practicing the ten foundational rhythmic units used by ancient scholars to understand complex lyric poetry (iamb, trochee, dactyl, etc).
Friday 16 April
10am–6pm Rehearsals, collaborative composing, and individual lessons. Zoom session with Stef Conner on approaches to self-accompaniment and singing Ancient Greek lyrics that have lost their music. Repertoire: basic lyre accompaniments for Alcman, Partheneion; Sappho, Call to Aphrodite; Homeric Hymn to Hermes; Pindar, Olympian 2; and Mesomedes, Invocations of the Muse and of Calliope and Apollo.
Saturday 17 April
10am–1pm Final rehearsals and production of reference videos, capturing whatever participants would most value. Informal performance at 12 noon, to which friends, family, and participants of the aulos course are warmly invited.
1pm Joint lunch (optional) hosted by catering genius Chuck Bova in his stunning mansion across the road.
Location
What’s included
- Everything you need to take home a working 7-string lyre, including a hard case and spare strings
- Lifetime access to resources to consolidate everything covered on the course, including videos, sheet music, and audio files to learn ancient Greek rhythms and pronunciations aurally (Classical Attic and Doric)
- Customized training exercises and pieces co-created with you
- Final collaborative performance and social connection with experts and other learners, joining a global community passionate about the lyre.
Who’s it for?
Musicians, educators, Classicists, and enthusiasts; students and researchers; beginners and experienced musicians alike. No prior instrument-making skills required.
Course fees
Standard: £600 Covers all of your tuition and the materials to take home a working lyre with case and spare strings.
Supporter: £750 In addition to the above, help us provide access for all, enable us to run more of these events with world-class tutors, and to create more music available for everyone.
Discounted: £450 For participants who cannot afford the standard rate.
The course fee does not include refreshments, meals, or accommodation. It covers the costs of lyre kits manufactured in the UK (including import duty), Barnaby’s travel expenses from the UK, and audiovisual learning resources produced in the UK. The 22 hours of contact time are pro bono, facilitating sales of Lotos Lab products and providing opportunities for in-person customer support.
Meet the tutors!
Barnaby Brown is a performer-researcher whose work bridges scholarship, instrument reconstruction, and creative practice. Internationally recognised for reviving ancient polyphonic pipes and early Scottish bagpipes, he combines deep historical knowledge with a passion for performance. He began learning the lyre for a CD project with the Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, In Praise of Saint Columba: The Sound-world of the Celtic Church. His collaborations span universities, conservatoires, Early Music ensembles, intercultural ensembles, and museums where he shares expertise in ancient musical craft, tuning systems, and vocabelizing: how virtuosos “sing” their instruments when learning and teaching. A co-founder of Lotos Lab, he creates projects that bring ancient soundscapes to life, balancing rigorous research with imaginative artistry.
Nikos Xanthoulis is a world-leading lyre virtuoso, composer, and researcher, internationally recognised for reviving the techniques and repertoire of ancient Greek music. A former principal trumpet of the Greek National Opera (1983–2008), he now focuses on performance and pedagogy of the seven-string lyre, for which he has developed a complete teaching method. He has interpreted ancient musical treatises, composed extensively for both modern and reconstructed instruments, and performs worldwide, bringing the sound of antiquity to contemporary audiences. Currently Assistant Researcher at the Academy of Athens and a Corresponding Member of the Archaeological Institute of America, he combines virtuosity with scholarship to inspire musicians at every level.
Stef Conner is a composer, singer, and researcher whose work reimagines the sounds of the ancient world through contemporary performance. Described as ‘brutal but harmonically radiant’ (The Guardian), she combines scholarly interpretation with sonic imagination, drawing on Mesopotamian, Greek, and medieval sources. As a performer, she has toured internationally with The Unthanks, Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening, and Sequentia. As a composer, she has written for ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ligeti Quartet, and Marian Consort. Her albums The Flood and Riddle Songs have been acclaimed for their fusion of historical language, reconstructed instruments, and emotional depth. She is a Lecturer in Music at the University of York, where she teaches courses in composition, singing, and Early music.
Got a question? Contact us at:
Lotos Lab: +44 78 1000 1377 • events@lotos-lab.com
Benten Music Center: +1 (530) 867-6222 • bentenmusiccenter@gmail.com
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