The 22 violins and cellos are loaned every three years to young Canadian musicians

rachel_mercer_5_by_jinwon_kim

Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank has loaned 22 fine stringed instruments, collectively worth $41m, to young Canadian musicians, who competed for the opportunity.

Every three years the MIB allows young instrumentalists the opportunity to apply for a three-year loan from its collection of historically-significant violins, cellos and bows, ranging in age from the late 1600s to the early 1900s, and crafted by such luthiers such as Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù, Gagliano and Pressenda.

This year’s winners are:

Andrea Tyniec – Stradivari ‘Baumgartner’ violin, 1689

Emmanuel Vukovich – Giovanni Tononi ‘Bell’ violin, c.1700

Yolanda Bruno – Stradivari ‘Taft’ violin, 1700

Jonathan Chan – Dominicus Montagnana violin, 1715

Aaron Timothy Chooi – Stradivari ‘Windsor-Weinstein’ violin, 1717

Blake Pouliot – Guarneri del Gesù violin, 1729

Matilda Kaul – Januarius Gagliano ‘Palmason’ violin, 1747

Nune Melikian – Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi violin, c.1750

Aaron Schwebel – Joannes Baptista Guadagnini violin, 1753

Boson Mo – Carlo Antonio Tononi violin, 1757

Byungchan Lee – Januarius Gagliano ‘Miller’ violin, 1768

Amy Hillis – Joannes Franciscus Pressenda violin, 1820

Joshua Daniel Peters –Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, c.1869 with Vuillaume model bow

Timothy Brennan Steeves – Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, 1871

Christina Bouey – Stefano Scarampella violin, 1900

Jeremy James Potts – Enrico Rocca violin, 1902

Cameron Crozman – Stradivari ‘Bonjour’ cello, 1696 and Adam Shaw bow, 1830

Rachel Mercer (pictured) – Joannes Franciscus Celoniatus ‘Newland’ cello, 1730

Noémie Raymond-Friset – Joannes Guillami cello, 1769

Se-Doo Park – Nicolaus Gagliano II ‘McConnell’ cello, 1824

Thomas Chartré – Charles François Grand ‘Gand Père’ cello, 1841

The MIB was founded in 1985 through a donation of $100,000 from the Barwick family of Ottawa. Since then the collection has grown thanks to donations, loans, and purchases made with donated funds.

This year’s jury comprised Mary-Katherine Finch, Clemens Merkel, Maria Kaneko Millar and Lara St. John.

To read more about the instruments, visit the Musical Instrument Bank website.

Photo: Jin-Won Kim