On Mar 22, 2014, at 4:21 AM, Paul Tannous <address@hidden> wrote:
Lilyponders,
I am considering starting a Kickstarter project to engrave a major choral
work in LilyPond that is in the public domain. The idea is to raise funds
to pay for the LilyPond engraving, proofreading, contributor premiums, etc.
The LilyPond source would then be put into the public domain. Rather than
make PDFs available, the LilyPond source could be put on a web site with
the URL for LilyPond. Anyone wanting a printed copy, could download and
install LilyPond if they didn't have it already. The idea would be to
generate interest in LilyPond.
Premiums for contributors could be PDFs of some of the parts of the
engraved choral work or even the whole score for large contributors. From
what I've seen of Kickstarter, typically the smallest premium that is
attractive enough to generate contributions is a T-Shirt. So, this could be
one of our premiums. If you have ideas for other premiums, they would be
appreciated.
If this project is successful, other projects for different works could be
started. A successful project might spawn imitators making even more
LilyPond source works available.
I have talked to several choir directors about what to use for a first
project. Handel's 'Messiah' was suggested by all of them. I am aware of
Nicolas Sceaux's fine work in engraving 'Messiah', but the choir directors
who spoke with me prefer to use a different version for their performances.
All comments regarding this project will be appreciated.
Thank you,
Paul Tannous
Sounds like a great idea!
Make sure to e-mail choir directors across the US to see what may interest them
- even if they cannot contribute financially to the project, it will have more
chances of success if you have concerts lined up to which donors can go, a
recording that they can receive, a program in which their name appears, etc..