Stories | Strings Magazine | For players of violin, viola, cello, bass & fiddle

Amy Beach’s Beautiful Duo Deserves To Be One of the Violin’s ‘Greatest Hits’

Amy Beach’s violin duo Romance takes you on a real emotional journey. It is not just a melodious piece of music with one mood all along. It is complex, passionate, and delicate.

Indie-Pop Violinist Andrew Bird Surveys the Nature of Things On His New Album ‘Inside Problems’

Indie-pop violinist Andrew Bird has a freewheeling performance style that has earned him the sobriquet “a one-man orchestra of the imagination.”

Ukrainian Composer Leonid Hrabovsky’s EQVIN Recalls the Past with Haunting Echoes of the Present

EQVIN (for violin and piano), by Ukrainian Composer Leonid Hrabovsky, is dedicated in memory of his father, a violinist who was shot by the KGB in 1937.

Alisa Weilerstein and Thomas Mesa Find a Fresh Approach to the Beethoven Cello Sonatas

Beethoven’s 5 cello sonatas are perpetually embraced by new generations of cellists. Alisa Weilerstein and Thomas Mesa share their fresh approaches to the works.

cellist yo-yo ma examining a student's viola playing

Yo-Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble Members Team Up with Maestro Long Yu on Youth Music Culture Guangdong

Yo-Yo Ma and maestro Long Yu founded Youth Music Culture Guangdong to help coach young musicians in chamber music and orchestral settings.

‘The Day I Learned How to Teach’: Bassist John Hamil’s Favorite Lesson

Bassist John Hamil recalls his favorite lesson: "I take this story with me to every lesson and never undervalue the student’s time and effort."

I Thought Musician’s Focal Dystonia Meant the End of My Viola Career—I Was Wrong

The approach to recovering from musician's focal dystonia was like a version of the Alexander Technique I’d been practicing for nearly a decade. But I soon discovered it went even deeper.

Maine Youth Rock Orchestra Offers Teens a Look into a World of Professional Possibilities as a Working Musician

The Maine Youth Rock Orchestra was inspired by a trend: when major pop, rock, or folk artists share a stage with a professional symphony, giving another path for a career as a musician.

Violinist Tim Kliphuis on Playing Gypsy Jazz

Violinist Tim Kliphuis, who has recorded over a dozen albums in a wide range of styles, talks about playing Gypsy jazz and his hero Stéphane Grappelli.

Violinist Scott Tixier on Studying Jazz Music on a Conservatory Track

Jazz violinist Scott Tixier describes why the phrase “classically trained” doesn't need to be such a defining measure of musical accomplishment.