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

Cajun Fiddler Michael Doucet Traces the Roots of American Music on New Album

By Greg Cahill “Boy, those Turtle Island guys really like to practice,” says Michael Doucet, with a hearty laugh. He’s speaking over a bad cell phone connect... Read More...

How Jacqueline du Pré Sparked a Cello Explosion

50 years after her London debut, EMI Reissues her complete recorded works—friends and colleagues marvel at her legacy. by Laurence Vittes It’s easy to feel... Read More...

5 Minutes With Hilary Hahn

On how she handles the balancing act between old and new works by Greg Cahill “Emboldened Orchestras Are Embracing the New” trumpeted the headline in the ar... Read More...

Genre-Jumping String Quartet Gathers for ‘The Goat Rodeo Sessions’

A little bit country, a little bit classical, a whole lot of Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile By Bob Doerschuk “The most intriguing part ... Read More...

Violinist Janine Jansen: The Genuine Article

Following an unexplained hiatus, Dutch violinist and violist Janine Jansen has returned to the stage, rested and ready for the next phase in her skyrocketing ca... Read More...

Ilya Gringolts: The Man, the Myth, the Musician on the Move

At 28, Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts has crafted a career rich with possibilities by Inge Kjemtrup When I first catch sight of Ilya Gringolts, he’s sit... Read More...

A Tale of Two Makers, Jay Ifshin and Haide Lin

From different worlds, two men meet to make the successful enterprise Ifshin Violins by Erin Shrader This article first appeared in the June 2009 issue. ... Read More...

Safety First! Avoid the Most Common Causes of a Lost or Broken Fiddle

By James N. McKean Many years ago, in a town next to where I was living at the time, a young mother ducked into a dry cleaners to drop off some clothes. She ... Read More...

Improve Your Orchestral Playing, Even from the Back of the Section

By Daniel Levitov Many string players perform not as a soloist, but from the string section of an orchestra. Though orchestra is almost always part of the cu... Read More...

Playing the Hall: Adjust Your Playing Based on What the Audience Hears

By Paul Robinson I remember many years ago performing in a chamber orchestra with guest artist Isaac Stern. The virtuoso arrived for rehearsal, removed his v... Read More...