10 Leadership Tools I Gained From Playing Violin
Over the years, my violin became a carefree outlet to release the pressures of leading a nonprofit organization. Here are 10 leadership tools I gained from playing violin.
January-February 2020
Home Recording: 5 Tips on Making Awesome YouTube Videos
By Patrick Sullivan 1. Don’t Be Boring The first rule of YouTube: Don’t be boring. “Create content that you find fun, that activates you,” advises violist Drew Alexander Forde, known online as ThatViolaKid. “Look at what other people are doing,”…
Learn to Make Awesome YouTube Videos
By Patrick Sullivan | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine There he is, one of the best violinists of his generation, sitting right across from you. He’s cracking jokes, sampling dim sum, and nearly choking on a hot…
The Enigma of Spektral Quartet
A new commission by Anna Thorvaldsdottir hovers between light and dark—and revives my inner NASA geek By Doyle Armbrust | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine The thing I love most about the music of Anna Thorvaldsdottir is…
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Trust Me, I’ve Heard It All Before: 4 Things That Make an Instrument Repair Person Sigh
Here's tongue-in-cheek look at some of the most common issues with stringed instruments, from the instrument repair person's perspective.
Bach’s Cello Suites Offer Endless Opportunities for Growth and Experimentation
By Juliana Soltis | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Player: Cellist Juliana Soltis connects audiences with the forgotten stories of classical music through historically informed performance. Her new album, Going Off Script, explores the long-lost tradition of spontaneous…
A Unique Path: How a French Luthier’s Electric Viols Married Baroque and Contemporary
By Cristina Schreil | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Twenty-five years ago, François Danger saw a film that changed everything for him. Titled Tous les matins du Monde, or All the Mornings of the World, it’s a…
The Perfect Fit: Violist Ursula Sarnthein on the Stradivari Opportunity of a Lifetime
By Cristina Schreil | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine In 2014, Trio Oreade, a Zurich- and Hamburg-based ensemble, performed in a chamber-music competition in Basel, Switzerland. The real treat, however, was what came after. A representative from…
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Music as a Constant: Finding My Own Way to a Musical Life
By Erin Holt | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine My hand is shaking so much I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold the whole-note double-stops that open the first movement of the Schumann Piano Quartet in…
Let’s Make a Deal! Tips on Buying an Instrument at Auction
By Inge Kjemtrup | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine I bought my first viola at a school auction many years ago. I’d just made the switch from violin, and the viola I had been borrowing had to…
A Burst of Light: How Finding String Music Ignited a Family and Personal Passion
By Tandum Lett | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine As I walked onstage at the Mark O’Connor string camp with my fellow adult learner and friend Suzette, I tried not to look out at the audience full…
Chamber Musician or Soloist: Violinist Hao Zhou’s Competing Interests
By Laurence Vittes | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine When 22-year-old Hao Zhou won the 18th Concours musical international de Montréal in June and then, as one of the Viano String Quartet’s violinists alongside Lucy Wang, shared…
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Prodigious Talent: How Violinist Jenő Hubay Drew a Generation of Stars to His Budapest Studio
By Sasha Margolis | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine In Budapest, at the dawn of the last century, a collection of jaw-dropping violin talents gathered to study at the city’s Academy of Music. Between 1900 and 1905,…
Power Punch: Eastman Releases Electro Acoustic Instrument Line
By Stephanie Powell | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Eastman has released its new Electro Acoustic instrument line, designed to deliver the warm resonance of an acoustic with the convenience of built-in amplification. The setup is carefully…
Natalie MacMaster Releases First Solo Album in 8 Years
By Greg Cahill | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Cape Breton, an island on the northeast end of Nova Scotia, Canada, is one of the most remote regions on the planet. But it boasts some of the…
Does a Grammy Win Live Up to the Hype for Classical Musicians?
The Grammy rarely loses that headline status. But just how powerful is this perceived value for classical musicians?
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My Second Career: How I Made the Leap from Surgeon to Violin Student
By Dan Guyton | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Wearing a black suit, starched white shirt, and purple tie, I was sitting upright, holding my violin and bow at attention, as our conductor, Tom Riccobono, described to…
3 Pieces of Violin Repertoire for Developing String Quartets
By Miranda Wilson | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Unlike the piano trio, where three talented individuals can come together convincingly on an occasional basis, a top-level string quartet is a full-time job. There can be few…
Violist Richard O’Neill on joining the renowned Takács Quartet
By Laurence Vittes | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine When the Takács Quartet announced that Richard O’Neill would replace Geraldine Walther as the famed ensemble’s fourth violist, it represented the latest achievement in a career defined by…
The Brilliance & Beauty, Artistry & Chaos, of Guarneri del Gesù’s Instruments
From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine We asked luthier Alex Louis Reza which historical maker’s work is closest to his heart and why. Here’s what he had to say. “Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ is the historical maker…
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How Practicing Slowly Can Reap Many Benefits for String Players
Practicing slowly gives string players the needed time for their brains to compute the actions required for successful technique as well as musicality.
State of Mind: How Musicians Can Leverage the Benefits of Mental Practice
By Rebecca Fischer | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Pulling is an action I associate with the creation and recall of art. I pull the bow across the strings of my violin, conjuring up emotional worlds I…