[Harp-L] Ten Hole Scholarship Fund

["Rupert Oysler" <orupert@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hopefully everyone was excited about Tinus's recent post describing his
acceptance to a "real" music conservatory to study jazz on the diatonic
harmonica. (the details are now on his website http://tenhole.com/). It is
a milestone for many reasons, and I think it will benefit the whole harp
community and elevate the harp image in many areas.

I was struck by one remark in Tinus's story where he described not knowing
where he was going to get the funds to pay for school,  now that he was
finally accepted. I've known Tinus online for many years and followed with
admiration his long hours of dedication to the harp: from perfecting his
technique, to studying music theory, to learning the details of harp repair
and set-up, and his willingness to freely share his discoveries with others.
And very personally I know all too well how energy and attention
devoted to making money take away dramatically from musical progress. 
So I wrote Tinus asking if there was some way I, and perhaps the whole harp
community, could help him with tuition.

He was willing to consider setting up a paypal account for donations, and to
create a fund that would be applied to his tuition. His website is now set
up to accept donations, just go to www.tenhole.com and click on "contact" 
(oh, and there's a little surprise gift when you've finished the donation 
process!).Plus he will gratefully accept money sent to him via mail.

Why would anyone give money to help Tinus?

Well, there are many possible reasons that might motivate your generosity:
Maybe you, like me, have spent a lot of your time and energy trying to earn
a living, and would like to contribute to someone who is willing to work
very hard (which Tinus has demonstrated repeatedly he is doing) at improving
their harp playing in a "real" music school setting-- perhaps our
contributions could help Tinus be a sort of "astronaut" for the harp, help
him to break free of the chains of financial gravity. Or maybe you, like
many I've heard from, actually learned to overblow from Tinus's FREE site.
Or maybe you learned how to set up and improve your harp from that site. Or
maybe your just a harp freak and would feel good about sending some money
to help another one. Or, you're longing for some external acceptance of your
little instrument, tired of people calling it a toy, and can see how Tinus's
work and achievements will influence the rest of the world.

Whatever your reasons, I encourage you to visit Tinus site and send him some
money. Review his journey to conservatory acceptance, gain some more
understanding of overblowing and harp set-up, listen to some awesome
playing, and then send a donation.

Maybe some of you have some further suggestions for raising tuition money,
or even the means to give a great deal. Also possibly some ideas on how to 
continue this or enlarge the concept to grow into a larger scholarship fund 
for harmonica education.

But whatever your contribution, I know it will be appreciated, and I 
know it will help the whole harmonica world.

Best wishes, Rupert