Stirrings of Spring
While so many of you are ardent online-only folks, there has been a steady drumbeat of interest in having in-person programming. Of course, the concept has always been hybrid: to offer in-person intensive music education in a tranquil, scenic setting while serving the online community with ever-improving delivery via Zoom. I think that’s still coming along; sometimes it’s hard for the warmth and support of faculty and colleagues to be as obvious when we’re all just faces on the screen, but it improves with every class.
I’m taking a few meetings next week to see if there are facilities close by (Litchfield and New Haven counties) that could host us for a summer program. The most promising one is at Wisdom House: they have beautiful facilities and a similar mission in terms of environmental stewardship and being generous to the community. The other meetings are with school officials who do not offer nearly so much built in capability, but instead are the least busy when Wisdom House is the most occupied. Every property is well situated in a forested locale with good food and drink, amenities close by, and are no more than a 2 hour drive from multiple large airports. I should have some idea about what an in-person program at a borrowed facility looks like in the next few weeks.
I also had a wonderful meeting last week with a consultant who has worked extensively with nonprofits, specifically in terms of marketing and donor relations. Of course, in order to be able to afford to pay her for a chunk of time, we need donations. It reminds me of the infuriating (and true) epigram within the book world: in order to get published, you have to have already been published. In order to attract more donors, we need donors.
Intern Sienna has already made a world of difference, always putting a number of clever and beautifully conceived social media posts into the drafts folder and reminding me that we have to put out the energy we want to attract. I am so happy I put the call out and that her guidance counselor happened to see it. Also, she deserves a round of applause: she placed second in the state for marketing at the DECA competition! It’s not often that a high school junior brings such outsized skill and experience to an internship. To say I am grateful for her is an understatement.
Tamarack is now of a scope that it is becoming too much for me to handle by myself. It’s a great problem to have: we’re a small org but growth is happening, month over month. Thank you all for your patience, the trust you’ve placed in me and our wonderful faculty, for your generous donations, and for the emails I get that remind me that now and again, I’m accomplishing what I set out to do: to give adult learners of stringed instruments a place to belong. Every day, I’m working to make the dream a reality: a property all our own, where we curate every aspect of the experience. The goal is nothing short of a world class program in a stunning venue. Until then, let’s see what we can brew up this summer at a rented facility. We already have the key ingredients: phenomenal faculty and the neatest bunch of students a teacher could ever ask for.
More soon!
Em
