Quarantune 2.0 Coming

Quarantune Online Festival 2020 was the first of its kind. There were 32 instructors and over 1400 attendees. There were 317 workshops on Friday and Saturday. On top of this they held 3 Instructors’ concerts! The attendees came from 22+ states and a total of 7 countries. Door prize drawing on Thursday night was fun to attend and GPDA had 3 winners, which I’m sure beat the odds! This was one of the most organized events I have ever attended.

The magnitude of this Online Festival could just be the wave of the future. Not only do the students help support the instructors who were missing all of their festivals and income this year, but some people attending are not able to go to a festival due to disabilities and not able to travel. This was indeed a win-win situation for many.

I have mentioned before how music brings us together and this event was surely the most global musical event that I am aware of. Some folks were able to see old friends during a Zoom class and others made new friends. I attended 10 classes total and learned some great new techniques to apply to my mountain dulcimer playing.

Instructors were well trained in advance on how to run a Zoom training session. They published hand-outs prior to the event. Plus, all of the classes I attended started and stopped right on time. Some of the instructors came from the east and some from the west. Many of which I’m sure it would be difficult for me to attend their local festivals. Variety was very special.

I must mention that the instructor concerts were fantastic! They had well over 600 people attend each one them.

SO, they have already announced Quarantune 2.0 this coming August 28 – 30th. They have added new instructors for both Mountain and Hammered Dulcimers. The festival includes Ukulele, Guitar, Bowed Psaltery, Autoharp, Banjo and Penny whistle classes along with both HD and MD.

Something for everyone, I hope.

Check it out at on their Facebook page The Quarantune Dulcimer Festival.

Keep the music in the air,

NancyJ VP