Discover The Lyre
A hands-on music-making course for all levels, set in the magical ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ Matera
3–7 Nov 2025
Led by Nikos Xanthoulis (lyre), Pino Basile (frame drum), and Barnaby Brown (aulos, lyre making, scholarship).
- All
- Group Shots
- Music Making
- Lyre Making
- Other
Join a unique four-day course at ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ Matera, where ancient craft meets living practice. Guided by world-leading tutors, you’ll explore ancient rhythms, modes, and tuning systems. Through group workshops, one-to-one coaching, and collaborative sessions, you’ll gain practical skills and fresh perspectives on how music once shaped body, mind, and community in the ancient world. Open to all levels, the course offers hands-on lyre making, practical training in lyre and frame drum playing, and holistic musicianship development in an extraordinary setting.
- Master new techniques and rhythms through one-to-one lessons and group coaching.
- EITHER take home your own hand-crafted lyre (workshop with Barnaby) OR have additional hours of lessons with Nikos and/or Pino.
- 24 hours of tutor time with world-leading specialists in lyres, rhythms, modes, and music making based on ancient evidence.
- Discover ancient music through practical experiment: making, singing, playing, composing, and performing.
- End the week with a collaborative performance alongside tutors and fellow participants in Moyseion Matera’s magical setting.
- Join an international community bringing archaeological evidence to life, rousing the music and literature of ancient civilizations from their long silence!
A once-in-a-lifetime setting for ancient music
What makes this course unforgettable isn’t only the hands-on creativity, but the place and the people. Matera’s carved stone dwellings and timeless atmosphere provide the perfect setting to reconnect with ancient traditions. With small groups, every voice is heard, and every instrument matters. You’ll be part of a creative community, guided by tutors who bring scholarship and artistry together in ways you won’t find anywhere else.
This is the first course in the annual winter training programme developed by Lotos Lab for the ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ Matera and open to all. Each month, from November–March, the course has a different focus, with options for participants to tailor unique pathways breathing life into ancient Greek musical remains. Get the most out of the programme by attending all five courses!
What participants say:
“I very much enjoyed the “experience first” based approach that mimics the aural tradition.”
“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!”
“Having the individual instructor feedback is excellent and the information content is top tier.”
All the practical info
Dates and times
3–7 November 2025 (3 whole days + 2 half-days)
15:00 – 15:45 Physical warm-up and ancient rhythm training with Pino & Barnaby
15:45 – 18:00 Lyre making 1 (tie skin to carapace) / lessons with Nikos and/or Pino
18:00 – 18:45 Water Sanctuary Ritual (for ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ residents, max 6 people)
19:00 – 20:00 Symposium (for ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ residents)
10:00 – 10:45 Physical warm-up and ancient rhythm training with Pino & Barnaby
10:45 – 13:00 Lyre making 2 (assemble frame & tie strings) / lessons with Nikos and/or Pino
15:00 – 15:45 Musicianship and ensemble training with Nikos
15:45 – 18:00 Lyre making 3 (tie strap, plectrum, tune strings, and start playing) / lessons with Nikos or Pino
18:00 – 18:45 Water Sanctuary Ritual (for ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ residents, max 6 people)
19:00 – 20:00 Symposium (for ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ residents)
10:00 – 11:30 Session led by Nikos showcasing lyre techniques
11:30 – 13:00 Session led by Barnaby showcasing ancient modes and tunings
15:00 – 18:00 Composing 1. Participants divide into three groups. Nikos, Pino, and Barnaby circulate, spending 1 hour with each group, changing at 16:00 and 17:00. Each tutor facilitates the development of a different piece, responding to interests and skills within the group, preparing for a performance on Friday morning.
10:00 – 11:30 Session led by Pino showcasing drum techniques and rehearsing ancient Greek rhythms vocally: the field of possibilities in a song-dance culture.
11:30 – 13:00 Composing 2. Participants divide into three groups and tutors circulate (Nikos, Pino, and Barnaby): 30 mins with each group, changing at 12:00 and 12:30.
15:00 – 18:00 Composing 3. Participants divide into three groups and tutors circulate (Nikos, Pino, and Barnaby): 1 hour with each group, changing at 16:00 and 17:00.
10:00 – 10:45 Final rehearsals
11:00 – 13:00 Performances of everything developed collaboratively during the course, ensembles and solos, including a solo from each tutor.
Location
ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ Matera, Via Gradelle S. Nicola del Sole, 3, Sassi di Matera, Italy
What’s included
- Tuition (24 hours in total)
- For those who choose to make a lyre, materials to take home a working instrument
- Final collaborative performance
Who’s it for?
Open to beginners, enthusiasts, and experienced musicians alike. No prior instrument-making skills required.
Course fees
- Standard £550 Covers all of your tuition and EITHER the materials to take home a working lyre OR extra hours of small group and individual tuition with Nikos Xanthoulis and Pino Basile: 24 hours of formal tutor time.
- Supporter £700 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 for you.
- Discounted £400 For participants who cannot afford the standard rate.
The course fee does not include refreshments, meals, or accommodation. Students are encouraged to eat with the tutors, exploring the many excellent and economic food options within walking distance. Ten rooms are available at the Moyseion at a reduced rate for participants: €180 for single occupancy, €230 for double occupancy per night. This includes the Water Sanctuary Ritual, a Symposium each evening, use of magnificent subterranean pools, and breakfast. To book, please contact: info@moyseion.com / +39 0835 197 1880.
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. His collaborations span universities, conservatoires, and leading ensembles, 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.
Dr. 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 translated key ancient theorists, 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.
Pino Basile is a percussionist and educator acclaimed for his mastery of frame drums and tamburello traditions from Southern Italy. Known for both virtuosity and versatility, he moves fluidly between folk, contemporary, and experimental contexts, collaborating with leading ensembles and theatre productions across Europe. Drawing on deep roots in Mediterranean rhythm, he brings an embodied, physical approach to music-making, training ensembles through movement and sound. His teaching and performance unite ancestral traditions with contemporary creativity, making him a sought-after guide for exploring rhythm as a whole-body practice.
About the setting
The course takes place in ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ Matera, a unique cultural space in the heart of Matera’s ancient Sassi district. Moyseion is part living museum, part creative laboratory: a place where archaeology, music, and imagination meet. Its stone interiors and carefully curated reconstructions evoke thousands of years of human history, offering an inspiring setting in which to explore ancient music.
Workshops unfold in spaces designed to heighten a sense of connection – to the past, to Mother Nature (after which Matera is named), and to each other. Here, the architecture itself shapes the experience, turning every session into a dialogue between musicians and the deep past.
Join us in Matera this November and take home an unforgettable experience!
Got a question? Email us at: events@lotos-lab.com
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A collaboration between Lotos Lab and ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ Matera
Lotos Lab: +44 78 1000 1377 • events@lotos-lab.com • www.lotos-lab.com
ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟΝ: +39 0835 197 1880 • info@moyseion.com • www.moyseion.com