Make an Ancient Greek Aulos
Discover the magic of the Classical aulos at Cincinnati University, 12–14 April 2026
A 3-day workshop with Barnaby Brown, making reeds and practicing aulos, following a symposium on Ancient Music and its Modern Performance and a production of Sophocles’ Antigone.
Co-organized by the University of Cincinnati Classics Department and College-Conservatory of Music, University of Dayton Music Department, and Lotos Lab
Over three days, 9am–5pm, you’ll make reeds for an aulos you can take home, and learn how to make music on it exploring ancient rhythms and modes. Through craft workshops, one-to-one coaching, and collaborative sessions, you’ll gain practical skills and fresh perspectives on how this harmonic and polyphonic instrument led musical culture in the ancient world. Open to all levels – musicians, educators, researchers, students, anyone interested in ancient cultures – the course offers practical training in aulos playing and holistic musicianship development engaging with ancient Greek evidence. If you already have an aulos, you can make reeds for it; if you don’t, you can take home your own reconstruction based on originals from the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.
- Learn to make the reeds that bring the aulos to life.
- Master new techniques and rhythms through one-to-one lessons and small-group coaching.
- 24 hours of tutor time with a world-leading specialist reviving the aulos.
- Discover ancient music through practical experiment: whole body singing, playing, composing, and moving in ensemble.
- Join an international community bringing archaeological evidence to life, rousing the music and literature of ancient civilizations from their long silence!
This workshop has been organised in conjunction with two other events. The day before, there is a University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory performance of Sophocles’ Antigone and a Classics Department symposium on Ancient Music and its Modern Performance with Eleonora Rocconi, Timothy Moore, Tosca Lynch, John Franklin and Wendy Heller.
The reeds you make in this workshop can be for an aulos you already possess, or for one you take home based on originals from Magna Grecia; an instrument you can practice daily and transport safely, as pictured in this photo:
The pipes are pre-made by Barnaby Brown and Jonathan Bingham in Chinese bamboo. You will sand the fingerholes, make reed caps and Theophrastian reed-pairs in Sardinian Avena sterilis, and take home a working instrument in a sturdy case in black/red plastic.
Ivory pipe recovered in 1983 from a shipwreck off Giglio Campesi, Italy. Porto Santo Stefano, La Fortezza Spagnola, S.B.A.T. inv. 146699/a. Photos: Mario La Rosa
What participants say:
“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.”
“It is wonderful to be taught to practise in a way that supports your body and your health, rather than being a painful and unpleasant chore. Focusing on how different bits of your body feel, how to be completely with yourself and your body. And it’s fun: it stops practice being a miserable experience!”
All the practical info
Dates and times
The symposium and performance of Antigone on Saturday are open to the public. The aulos workshop running Sunday–Tuesday, 9am–5pm, requires advance registration and is limited to 12 places. The workshop fee covers Lotos Lab kits and reed making materials imported from the UK. Other Lotos Lab products (reeds and doublepipes reconstructed after archaeological finds) will be available for sale: try before you buy and gain confidence making and educating reeds that make ancient doublepipes a pleasure to practice.
Morning Panel (Blegen Library, Room 308)
8:30 Coffee / Pastries
9:00 Welcome
9:15 Eleonora Rocconi (University of Pavia), “Ancient Mousike as a Performing Art: Theory and Practice”
9:45 Timothy Moore (Washington University in St. Louis), “Meter to Music in Greek Tragedy”
10:15 Tosca Lynch (Royal Historical Society) [Zoom], “The Alphabet of Music: Greek notation and the musical documents”
10:45 Coffee break
11:00 John Franklin (University of Vermont), “Harmonic Rhythm and the Lyre”
11:30 Barnaby Brown (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) – “Tonal Space and the Aulos”
12:00 Wendy Heller (Princeton University), “Ovid and Ovidian Aesthetics in Baroque Opera”
12:30 Lunch (speakers and attendees)
Performances: Aulos Demonstration & Sophocles’ Antigone (College-Conservatory of Music)
1:30 Public aulos demonstration (adjacent to CCM theater)
2:00 Performance of Sophocles, Antigone
4:15 Roundtable discussion of Antigone performance and larger issues of the reconstruction and performance of ancient music (CCM Baur Room)
Daily 9am–5pm, eating lunch together somewhere nearby
Sunday 12 April
Making ‘yokes’ of reeds respecting Theophrastus Hist. Pl. 4.11 (see Journal of Music Archaeology 2)
Monday 13 April
Making the first sounds on your reeds. How and what to practise daily – developing a magical sound and training the fingers using ancient rhythms
Tuesday 14 April
Individual lessons and group rehearsals – giving and receiving feedback, preparation for training at home
Location
University of Cincinnati, Department of Classics. Blegen Library, 2602 University Cir, Cincinnati, OH 45219, USA. Campus map and directions
What’s included
- Everything you need to take home a working “Giglio” aulos, and/or new reeds for your existing aulos
- Course materials including reed-making data sheets, videos of technical exercises, and sheet music
- Bespoke training materials co-created with you
The workshop fee covers the costs of kits manufactured in UK (including import duty), raw materials harvested in Sardinia, and learning resources produced by Lotos Lab to support aulos players. The 24 hours of contact time are gratis, facilitating sales of Lotos Lab products.
Who’s it for?
Open to beginners, enthusiasts, and experienced performers alike: anyone keen to make music on the aulos, or to understand this instrument more deeply through real-world experience. No prior instrument-making skills required.
Course fees
- Standard: £600 Covers all the materials to take home your very own classical aulos and reeds.
- Supporter: £750 In addition to the above, help us provide access for all, enable us to run more of these events in the US as well as Europe with world-class tutors, and to create more music for you.
- Discounted: £450 For participants who cannot afford the standard rate.
The course fee does not include refreshments, meals or accommodation.
Barnaby Brown
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. His collaborations span universities, conservatoires, Early Music ensembles, intercultural ensembles, and museums where he shares expertise in ancient musical craft, tuning systems, and vocabelising: how to “sing” the pipes. A co-founder of Lotos Lab, he creates projects that bring ancient soundscapes to life, balancing rigorous research with imaginative artistry.
Got a question? Email us at: events@lotos-lab.com
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Co-organised by Lotos Lab and University of Cincinnati Classics Department
Lotos Lab: +44 78 1000 1377 • events@lotos-lab.com • www.lotos-lab.com
University of Cincinnati Classics Department: (513) 556-3050 • classics@uc.edu • www.classics.uc.edu