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…
By Miranda Wilson | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Falling Out of Time, Osvaldo Golijov’s long-awaited return to composition after more than a decade’s recording silence, is a song cycle on poetic texts by the Israeli writer…
By Thomas May | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine An unmistakable harmony holds sway in Jessie Montgomery’s creative work. Her attunement to larger cultural contexts is eloquent and persuasive. Take Banner, Montgomery’s contribution to the tributes marking…
By Megan Westberg | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Gone are the days when the only options for stringed-instrument accessories were clad in dull monotones. Cases come in leopard print, fittings gleam and sparkle, and your shoulder…
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By Caeli Smith | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Ranaan Meyer, bassist of genre-blending ensemble Time for Three, has run the Wabass Institute for 13 seasons. Now he is the artistic director of the new Honeywell Arts…
By Brian Wise | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine The provenance of a musical instrument—its history of ownership and possession—is a crucial factor in determining its value and its mystique. But how crucial is it to know…
This new sheet music review discusses Six Variations with Coda on a Theme of Beethoven for violin & piano by Böhm, Clement, Hellmesberger, St. Lubin, Mayseder & Schuppanzigh
By Brian Wise | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine Violinists have appeared in advertisements for soap (Ole Bull), beer (Jascha Heifetz), scotch whisky (Mischa Elman), and stereo equipment (Fritz Kreisler, Yehudi Menuhin). But these days, the product…
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By Laurence Vittes | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine The success of Missy Raines’ 2018 Grammy-nominated Royal Traveller album, hailed by the Bluegrass Situation as “an open and honest telling of the realities of a life in…
This new sheet music for Bartók’s famous Romanian Folk Dancesfor viola and piano by Kim Kashkashian closely follows Székely’s famed violin version.
By Evan Johnson | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine Sometimes we forget how important silence is in music. It has as many functions as sound—and can be just as expressive. Tiny silences can strengthen or clarify individual…
By Andrew McIntosh | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine Curiosity has always been my guiding light as a musician. I find repeatedly that the musical situations I enjoy the most occur serendipitously after simply following a thread…
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By Caeli Smith | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine Violin maker Christopher Jacoby is editor of the Violin Society of America’s membership magazine, the Scroll, and workshop manager at Potter Violins, where he wields his pen, tools,…
By Kate Levin | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine My violin is beautiful. Its glossy surface is intermittently disturbed by slight cracks in the varnish that make it more rather than less beautiful. The golden-brown body contrasts…
By Jeff Kaliss | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine When Lara St. John sought a moniker for her own record label in 1999, she chose Ancalagon, to memorialize her recently deceased pet iguana, whose name in turn…
This sheet music of Stravinsky;'s Suite Italienne arranged by Kim Kashkashian closely follows the 1930s violin & piano transcription by Samuel Dushkin with a few twists.
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You can have the best instrument, the best bow, and great technique, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t physically play. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to things like posture, tension, and flexibility—things that might unconsciously…
By Brian Forst | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine My road to the cello started at age eight, when my parents gave me singing lessons, followed by accordion lessons at age 11. We drove from Los Angeles…
By Greg Cahill | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine Downbeat magazine recently named jazz violinist Tomoko Omura one of its Rising Star Violinists for the fifth year in a row. Her new album, Branches Vol. 1 (Outside…
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