When I first heard the hurdy-gurdy, an ancient stringed instrument that makes music by turning a wheel with a crank, I knew I had to have one. I mean, who wouldn’t want an instrument that sounded like a cross between a fiddle and a bagpipe? Alas, a quality hurdy-gurdy is not easy to come by, and buyer beware, there are plenty of hurdy-gurdy instruments that at best, look pretty, and at worst, should only be used as kindling.
I researched several hurdy-gurdy making craftsmen, and I went with one of the top hurdy-gurdy luthiers in the world, Gordiy Starukh, https://www.facebook.com/hordijgurdy/, who lives in Ukraine. Unfortunately, he had a 1.5 year waiting list, which I signed up for, and two weeks before Putin invaded Ukraine, I received a message that my Hurdy-Gurdy was almost finished. After the invasion, I was more worried that my friend was forced from his home, or worst yet, killed, than I was about the instrument.
When I received a new message from Gordiy in May I was relieved to hear that he was safe with his family, and better yet, that my instrument was ready to ship. I finished paying for her, knowing that she might not ever make it to Sandpoint, Idaho.
Much to my delight, Amazing Grace, my Ukranian Hurdy-Gurdy, arrived last week. I tuned her up and began learning to play her right out of the box. Sophisticated and elegant, Amazing Grace not only sounds and looks great, she is a beacon in the night, a prayer, a harbinger of peace, of music and dance, of love and light, an amazing grace of hope and good things to come.
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