Strings caught up with violinist and educator Tom Stone, the New Eureka Chamber Music Series co-artistic director, about the challenge of returning live chamber music performances after a year of lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It's said that violin is for classical and jazz while fiddle is for folk, country, and bluegrass. but is that really true?
Mastering the different styles of fiddling requires the same deep immersion as language fluency, according to Alasdair Fraser. It’s not about simply learning sheet music, but speaking in a regional dialect on your violin.
The violinist Midori marked the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth by recording his Violin Concerto in March 2020, just before lockdown began. Upon the album’s release in 2021, we caught up with Midori in New York City, where she had been quarantining with family members.
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As told to Greg Cahill Megan Lynch Chowning is a seven-time national fiddle champion, touring musician, teacher, singer, and flat-footer. She was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award for her participation in the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project. She spent…
By Miranda Wilson | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Metamorphosen is the debut recording of the Oculi Ensemble, a group of mostly British string players drawn variously from the Badke, Doric, Piatti, Navarra, Albion, and Idomeneo quartets.…
By Patrick Sullivan Exact numbers aren’t really Darol Anger’s thing. But over some four decades as a musician and educator, the incredibly versatile fiddler has surely helped hundreds of young string players take the plunge into bluegrass. He tries to…
By Greg Cahill | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Father-and-son Israeli luthiers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein founded the Violins of Hope project to restore stringed instruments that had been played by Jewish musicians before and during the…
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By Sasha Margolis | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine There is much history between the Roma people and the violin. In the past, some—Roma and outsiders alike—have even speculated about a mystical connection. According to legend, in…
As told to Greg Cahill Strings caught up with Elinor Frey, a Canadian-American cellist and researcher who specializes in early and new music—critics have opined that her playing is adroit, expressive, and engaging. Strings contributor Laurence Vittes once noted: “Enterprising…
By Greg Cahill | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Eric Aceto of Ithaca Stringed Instruments (ISI) grew up in a family of musicians and artisans, but it took a while for the violin to enter his life.…
By Laurence Vittes | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine The deeply personal nature of Schubert’s enormous output of songs provides a compelling reason to set the composer’s chamber music into the story of his life by programming…
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By Brian Forst | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Bach’s Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are the perfect medicine for cellists trying to cope during the pandemic. They offer challenges for even the most accomplished musician, and some…
By Brian Wise | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine The goal was to highlight two top-flight string players from two generations, collaborating at the nexus of two rather different genres. But when a UK radio station posted…
As told to Greg Cahill Sara Sant’Ambrogio is best known as the cellist of two-time Grammy Award-nominated Eroica Trio, but her career extends to solo performances with orchestras around the world, four solo albums, and concert dates at prominent festivals.…
By David Templeton | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Chamber music is, by definition, small, intimate, together—originally performed in palace chambers, where audience and musicians alike were in close proximity. During a pandemic in which social distancing…
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By Laurence Vittes | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine At a time of isolation, online “music minus one” (MMO) services that allow you to practice and feel like part of an ensemble seem like a perfect antidote.…
By Inge Kjemtrup | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Wearing a light blue coat with the hood up, Hilary Hahn trudges through a chilly late-November landscape. She is filming herself as she walks, making an update to…
By Megan Westberg | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Pirastro initially released its Perpetual line as a set for cello in 2016. The company has now completed the line by bringing its viola set to market, after…
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