[ Lively music playing ] Bird: The Birdhouse Center for the Arts is meant to be a hub right in the center of Lambertville, where anybody can come and learn music, learn dance, learn some art form.

You can come in and say, "Hey, I am a yoga teacher, or I'm teaching a sound-healing class.

And can I make something happen here?"

And we try to make it happen.

[ Lyrics ] And we do the best we can.

Oh, yes, we lend a helping hand.

And we do the best that we can.

[ Talking ] One more time.

Many music schools, you learn because you're hoping to go on to Berklee or Juilliard.

And we wanted there to be a place where people could really explore music and explore the arts and learn from each other.

Narrator: Bronwyn and Justin, who met while studying music therapy at the Berklee College of Music, founded the Birdhouse Center for the Arts as a creative hub where people of all ages could come together through music.

Nawn: She introduced me to the Nyckelharpa.

She asked me to go dancing.

[ Lively music playing ] [ Lively music playing ] Narrator: Bronwyn grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with a puppeteer mom who made sure all four of her children learned to play the accordion.

Bronwyn discovered the Nyckelharpa through folk dancing.

[ Lively music playing ] Bird: As a homeschooler, I grew up learning from my siblings, not just from people that were my own age.

And so to me, it's very important to have a place where older folks in the community can come and share their passion and skills with younger folks, and in turn, younger folks can share what they have.

Nawn: People can come here and hear incredible music they might not otherwise hear, or be able to touch or see or play instruments.

Narrator: As a teenager, Bronwyn spent a year in Sweden studying the Nyckelharpa.

She even built her own.

[ Nyckelharpa music playing ] [ Nyckelharpa music playing ] Bird: When you're playing Nyckelharpa, the bowing hand is similar, a little different, but similar to a violin.

So each of these keys is an individual note.

When you push the key lightly, it pushes a tangent into the string just like your finger would on a guitar.

[ Nyckelharpa music playing ] And then you can actually play more than one note at a time.

So you can push two keys in together.

[ Nyckelharpa music playing ] And this key box is essentially the same as the key box on an instrument called the hurdy-gurdy, which it's very related to.

But the hurdy-gurdy has a cover that's actually covering the key so you can't see it.

And then instead of a bow, you're cranking the instrument.

All: [ Lyrics ] For the gospel preacher.

Narrator: Everything Bronwyn and Justin are doing at the Birdhouse Center comes together in their annual community Winter Solstice celebration, held in a local church.

[ Bird singing indistinctly ] Nawn: The winter solstice -- the program was developed as a way to, "A," celebrate that time of year and, "B," just to curate ways that people can do group singing and allow our other programs like our orchestra and our Sing Off Stress group, to have an opportunity to -- to get up and perform in front of people.

Bird: The solstice event really takes traditions from all over the world that celebrate the shortest day of the year.

So the loss of light and then the -- the coming back of light.

Some of it is holiday songs, but a lot of it is just based off of songs that bring you together in this darkest time of year.

So we have everything from a Welsh Mari Lwyd creature that comes through lighting up the room at the start to a crowning of the King of Fools, where we take an audience member that doesn't know, of course, they're gonna picked, and we bring them up on stage and adorn them in these gowns and crowns, and then our orchestra serenades them.

[ Recorder music playing ] We have a woman who plays -- I think it's 5 or 6 harmonicas all at the same time.

Narrator: Their Winter Solstice event is a place where members of the Birdhouse community shine.

Nawn: Bronwyn and I were talking about ways to encourage adults to come into a safe space to sing.

And people have reservations about singing.

People say all the time, you know, "Oh, I only sing if I'm in my car or my shower."

You get some people that say, "Oh, I would never sing in front of someone."

This group is designed -- Sing Off Stress is designed to encourage anyone that wants to come and sing and be a part of a community.

They can do it.

Chorus: [ Lyrics ] And I will not fear.

Bird: I should have said this right up front, but there are no wrong notes, only alternative harmonies.

So please don't be afraid to sing out.

[ Lyrics ] Deep down.

Narrator: The Birdhouse Center for the Arts is a musical family, starting with Bronwyn, Justin, their parents and daughters, and extending into Lambertville and beyond.

Nawn: So building a family amongst musicians started when we got here in 2012.

Bird: My upbringing in Doylestown was not your typical growing-up experience.

I grew up one of four kids and we were all homeschooled.

My parents did puppetry with us and we grew up doing the community theater just down the road, the town and country players.

So my -- my backyard, we would walk to the community theater and that was the equivalent of summer camp.

[ Lyrics ] It would be love.

[ Talking ] The best way to get your child involved in music is to be involved yourself.

The most rewarding part of being here at the Birdhouse is when people come to us and say, "I've always wanted to play music, but I don't -- I don't think I can."

Or maybe they say, "I've played an instrument back in high school, but, of course, like, I-I gave that up and I can't play anymore."

And helping those people pick those instruments back up or try something that they really thought that you had to go to music school, maybe, or study for years to be able to play and helping them realize that music can actually be a part of their life, they just maybe have to redefine how.

Anybody can sing.

We're all born with a voice and having -- watching people find their voice and then find their confidence, and then really seeing how it then becomes a part of their life, that's the purpose of why we're here.

Girl: [ Lyrics ] Like diamonds in the sky.