Brooklyn Rider 1 cr Sarah Small

Staying power: US String Quartets

4 July 2025

As Brooklyn Rider and the Jack and the Miró quartets mark milestone anniversaries, Thomas May looks at how these contemporary American ensembles are not just surviving, but reshaping the 21st-century musical landscape

Dover Quartet 3_photo credit Roy Cox

Masterclass: Dvořák String Quartet no.12 ‘American’, second movement

4 July 2025

Cellist of the Dover Quartet Camden Shaw illustrates the importance of sound exploration in this bittersweet movement that can be seen as a metaphor for life and its many tribulations

ms1

My Space: Alan Beavitt’s Scoraig workshop

4 July 2025

Take a tour of the maker’s Scottish shop

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In Focus: A 1942 violin by Arturo Fracassi

4 July 2025

Leonardo Cella examines the mid-century instrument by the Italian maker

CB photo

Charles Beare: 1937–2025

27 June 2025

One of the world’s most renowned violin experts died on 26 April this year. Anne Inglis looks back at his life, while friends and colleagues share their memories

Brooklyn Rider 1 cr Sarah Small

Staying power: US String Quartets

4 July 2025

As Brooklyn Rider and the Jack and the Miró quartets mark milestone anniversaries, Thomas May looks at how these contemporary American ensembles are not just surviving, but reshaping the 21st-century musical landscape

Dover Quartet 3_photo credit Roy Cox

Masterclass: Dvořák String Quartet no.12 ‘American’, second movement

4 July 2025

Cellist of the Dover Quartet Camden Shaw illustrates the importance of sound exploration in this bittersweet movement that can be seen as a metaphor for life and its many tribulations

Dover Quartet 3_photo credit Roy Cox

Masterclass: Dvořák String Quartet no.12 ‘American’, second movement

Cellist of the Dover Quartet Camden Shaw illustrates the importance of sound exploration in this bittersweet movement that can be seen as a metaphor for life and its many tribulations

Ida Haendel  Jelle Pieter de Boer 6

Remembering Ida Haendel: Grande dame of the violin

Following Ida Haendel’s death at the age of 96 in July 2020, Tully Potter surveys the career of an exceptional performer and a remarkable woman. From September 2020

Anonimo francesce, inizio XIX secolo, Ritratto di violinista (Pierre Rode), olio su tela, cm 92 x 72,5 - HD

Pierre Rode: The Rode less travelled

He is best remembered for his didactic 24 Caprices, but there’s much more to Pierre Rode. For the French virtuoso’s 250th anniversary, Charlotte Gardner reveals a colourful life story and hears from the German violinist Friedemann Eichhorn, who has revived and recorded all of Rode’s 13 violin concertos

T25736_Ebsworth Quartet L to R Elizabeth Hunt Eleanor Warren Eileen Ebsworth Phyllis Ebsworth

All-female string quartets after the First World War

In the second and final part of his survey, Tully Potter reveals the extent of the explosion of all-female quartets that occurred after the First World War in the UK, Europe, the US and the Soviet Union, as well as notable mixed ones

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German bow makers in America: Across the Atlantic

Many, if not most, of the earliest bow makers working in America originally hailed from Germany. Raphael Gold discovers how they helped lay the foundations for the industry

Sphinx+Virtuosi+-+New+World+Center+-+credit+Scott+Jackson

Sphinx Organization: Change for good

For the past quarter-century the Sphinx Organization has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed diversity to the US classical music scene. Bruce Hodges examines its achievements, and hears from its founder and its president about the future

Ida Haendel  Jelle Pieter de Boer 6

Remembering Ida Haendel: Grande dame of the violin

Following Ida Haendel’s death at the age of 96 in July 2020, Tully Potter surveys the career of an exceptional performer and a remarkable woman. From September 2020

Dover Quartet 3_photo credit Roy Cox

Masterclass: Dvořák String Quartet no.12 ‘American’, second movement

Cellist of the Dover Quartet Camden Shaw illustrates the importance of sound exploration in this bittersweet movement that can be seen as a metaphor for life and its many tribulations

1

Trade Secrets: Sharpening gouges

A practical method for maintaining the sharpness of this essential tool for all makers

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Masterclass: Schumann Fantasiestücke for cello and piano

These three pieces pose an opportunity to create a dream-like sound world illustrating love in all its forms, says cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca

Masterclass: Mozart Violin Concerto no.4 in D major, first movement

Remembering that Mozart was an opera composer and understanding harmonies are the keys to bringing out the various characters in this work, says violinist Tobias Feldmann

Technique: Thoughts on bowing

Charles Castleman explores a range of approaches to teaching bowing techniques

Ida Haendel  Jelle Pieter de Boer 6

Remembering Ida Haendel: Grande dame of the violin

Following Ida Haendel’s death at the age of 96 in July 2020, Tully Potter surveys the career of an exceptional performer and a remarkable woman. From September 2020

Anonimo francesce, inizio XIX secolo, Ritratto di violinista (Pierre Rode), olio su tela, cm 92 x 72,5 - HD

Pierre Rode: The Rode less travelled

He is best remembered for his didactic 24 Caprices, but there’s much more to Pierre Rode. For the French virtuoso’s 250th anniversary, Charlotte Gardner reveals a colourful life story and hears from the German violinist Friedemann Eichhorn, who has revived and recorded all of Rode’s 13 violin concertos

T25736_Ebsworth Quartet L to R Elizabeth Hunt Eleanor Warren Eileen Ebsworth Phyllis Ebsworth

All-female string quartets after the First World War

In the second and final part of his survey, Tully Potter reveals the extent of the explosion of all-female quartets that occurred after the First World War in the UK, Europe, the US and the Soviet Union, as well as notable mixed ones

m

German bow makers in America: Across the Atlantic

Many, if not most, of the earliest bow makers working in America originally hailed from Germany. Raphael Gold discovers how they helped lay the foundations for the industry

Sphinx+Virtuosi+-+New+World+Center+-+credit+Scott+Jackson

Sphinx Organization: Change for good

For the past quarter-century the Sphinx Organization has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed diversity to the US classical music scene. Bruce Hodges examines its achievements, and hears from its founder and its president about the future

RCM students rehearsing at Wigmore Hall (c) Phil Rowley

'When someone is healthy inside, it sounds that way' - Mental health services in conservatoires

Rita Fernandes hears from administrators, counsellors and teachers from music schools about what defines a successful conservatoire mental health support system

Lutherie

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    Violin maker Otto Schünemann: A Romantic visionary

    Although Otto Schünemann’s violins were praised by everyone from Vuillaume to Sarasate, his name is barely recognised today. Clifford Hall tells the story of this idealistic luthier who strove to bring the glories of the Cremonese masters to 19th-century Germany

  • Front full

    In Focus: A c.1800 violin by Joseph Panormo

    Andrew Fairfax on the UK-based Italian maker’s turn-of-the-century instrument

  • 3

    The Strad Calendar 2024: The Fulton collection

    The Strad Calendar 2024 pays tribute to one of the 20th century’s finest stringed instrument collections, put together in just a couple of decades by American violin collector David L. Fulton. Christian Lloyd examines the treasures

Great Instruments

Untitled design (10)

The Strad Calendar 2025: Canada’s crème de la crème

The Strad Calendar 2025 celebrates the work of the Canada Council for the Arts, which has been matching players with fine instruments for 40 years. Christian Lloyd takes a look at the collection’s highlights

  • 1_IHS-Paderewski_AtelierCels_JRoehrmann_FullDef-1

    A unique pairing: the ‘Paderewski, Wendling’ violin

    In the first of a two-part article, Balthazar Soulier examines an extraordinary violin that displays the hallmarks of both Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ and Domenico Montagnana

  • Dave & Lord Wilton

    The Fulton collection: Magnificent obsession

    For decades, top soloists would visit the home of David Fulton to sample the treasures of his legendary collection. Now dispersed, the instruments have been brought together again in book form. The collector shares some of the highlights with Christian Lloyd

  • 3

    The Strad Calendar 2024: The Fulton collection

    The Strad Calendar 2024 pays tribute to one of the 20th century’s finest stringed instrument collections, put together in just a couple of decades by American violin collector David L. Fulton. Christian Lloyd examines the treasures

Great Instruments

Untitled design (10)

The Strad Calendar 2025: Canada’s crème de la crème

The Strad Calendar 2025 celebrates the work of the Canada Council for the Arts, which has been matching players with fine instruments for 40 years. Christian Lloyd takes a look at the collection’s highlights

Reviews

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