Music

I have an interest in the ancient Greek lyre and in composing tunes for Greek and Latin poetry that render the meter clear and catchy. Occasionally I post videos to that effect on my YouTube. If you are also a person who makes ancient music or is interested, feel free to reach out to! I would love to do more collaboration. Extreme bonus points if you are near the St. Louis area.

For example, here's a live performance I did at SCS as part of the Ancient Music Open Mic Night organized by John Franklin. Scroll down to see more details about the lyre I am playing.

My lyre

My lyre is a seven-string chelys (tortoiseshell) lyre made by the Nikolaos Brass Workshop in Athens, Greece. The sounding bowl is made of wood, but shaped and painted to resemble a tortoiseshell. The strings are gut, and quite loud. The ancient lyre is played by a combination of plucking with the fingers, striking individual strings with the plectrum (pick), and muting strings with the left hand while strumming chords with the plectrum in the right.