Something we haven't heard much about in this discussion is the role that amateur lutenists might play in raising awareness.
I have been an amateur lutenist for about 40 years (on and off) and for several years (1980s) a friend and I performed, in period clothes and by candle-light, short programmes of lute duets and solos to any local organisation that invited us - Art societies, rural institutes, Rotarians, Freemasons, churches, charities and so on, where they need to fill a programme with speakers and having heard about us were happy to use us to fill a slot in the season's programme. As amateurs we only accepted travelling expenses and any hospitality that was on offer, but we politely declined any fee. I am of the opinion that for an amateur musician accept a fee is to take what is due to those who depend on performing fees to make a living. Be that as it may, I think we brought the lute to the attention of hundreds of relatively receptive people who weren't natural 'fans' of early music, and I believe we drew their attention to the existence of professional early musicians who were subsequently invited to perform for an appropriate fee. Bill -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
