Letter to Friends Regarding Recordings of Workshops (4-28-2024)

     After much thought and careful consideration, I have decided going forward to present my online workshops as live events only and to discontinue the sale of recordings for these events. My intention in making this decision is no way to exclude anyone from learning opportunities but to protect our workshops’ emphasis on community and human contact. In fact, community is an aspect of my online offerings that I hope to expand upon in the days to come through song circles, concerts, and more. If anyone is unable to attend one of my workshops, they are invited to have their registration fee credited toward a private online or in-person lesson on the workshop songs (6/30/2024- or other workshop content).
     For me, a workshop’s value is more than just as a product or commodity; it is also a valuable way of forming relationships within the dulcimer community. This most recent decision is an effort to preserve those values. When I consider today’s digital marketplace, I am reminded of the wise words of the Fox in Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince (in which “to tame” means “to befriend or establish trust with”):

• “One only understands the things that one tames… Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends anymore. If you want a friend, tame me…”

Friendship remains something that money cannot buy; the currency that “buys” friendship is time and caring attention. I am honored to have witnessed us befriending the mountain dulcimer and one another over these past years, and I hope that we can continue to do so through the avenue of live online and in-person events.

Sincerely,
Jessica Comeau