All Fine-Contemporary articles – Page 16
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FocusWhen Stradivarius violins go AWOL
In this article from The Strad, February 2011, Peter Somerford looks into the murky world of international Stradivarius violin theft, and the efforts being made towards recovery and prevention
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Article300-year-old ‘Lipinski' Stradivarius violin stolen in armed robbery
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond attacked with a stun gun on the evening of 27 January
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Article100 stringed instruments stolen from a property in Bremen, Germany
The collection, worth €150,000, includes violins, violas, cellos and viols by such luthiers as Leopold Widhalm, Emile Laurent and Emile Germain
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ArticleStudy finds long-term goals are as important to musical achievement as instrumental practice
Australian university researchers arrive at results following ten-year investigation
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FocusAsk the Experts: finding a better instrument on a budget
Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to a panel of experts
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FocusProtecting your stringed instrument in sub-zero temperatures
As the 'polar vortex' maintains its icy grip on the US, The Strad revisits Douglas Lay's article on keeping your stringed instrument healthy during the winter months
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ArticleThe Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments to celebrate Will Kemp's 100-mile dance
The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments will celebrate the antics of the 16th-century Shakespearean actor Will Kemp this month when it recreates his famous nine-day dance from London to Norwich with a programme of music performed on contemporary instruments - including reconstructions of rare and obsolete ...
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ArticleThe Strad Features Index available to download
Looking for a specific article published in The Strad magazine? You can now download The Strad features indexes from the past four years, 2010 to 2013, by clicking on the PDFs below. Each index includes every article published in The Strad magazine and supplements that year, and ...
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ArticleThe Strad January 2014 issue is on sale now
The January issue of The Strad is now on sale. In our 'Fresh Thinking' edition Californian cello innovator and sound sculptor Zoë Keating reveals how technology and the internet have helped her home-grown music to flourish outside the mainstream. Our article on pop-up exhibitions investigates why a ...
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ArticleStolen ‘ex-Kym' Stradivarius violin fetches £1.385m at auction
The Stradivarius violin belonging to London-based violinist Min-Jin Kym that was stolen at a Pret a Manger sandwich bar in London’s Euston Station in November 2010 and later recovered by police, has sold for £1.385m ($2.27m) at auction. The sale price exceeds the £1.2m valuation attached to ...
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ArticleBerlin declares viola 'Instrument of the Year 2014'
An annual citywide festival in Berlin that spotlights underrepresented musical instruments will turn its attention on the viola next year with a series of concerts, workshops and events at locations across the German capital. The year-long event, simply called ‘Instrument of the Year’, launched in 2011 with ...
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ArticleMusicians forced to take instruments without cases on board flight
Three members of the French string quartet Quatuor Voce were requested to remove their stringed instruments from their cases before taking them on board a flight, the ensemble reported on Twitter. The musicians were at Paris's Orly Airport booked on a flight with the Spanish airline Vueling ...
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FocusA luthier's tribute to Nelson Mandela
Inspired by South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize winners, luthier Brian Lisus made a quartet of instruments that could spread a message of reconciliation and help some of the world's poorest children to make music. Peter Somerford traces its evolution
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ArticleCremonese luthiers shape their craft
This photograph by Italian artist Ettore Favini is one of a series called Ipotesi di Finito #4 – Dare forma alla cultura – a collaborative project involving people who work in libraries, museums, theatres, palaces and other cultural locations in Cremona. For each photo site, the artist asks ...
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ArticleTop lots from Skinner Auctioneers' November auction
Skinner Auctioneers has released the results of its November auction in Boston, US. Among the top lots for stringed instruments was a Nicolaus Gagliano violin (pictured) from Naples made in 1720, which fetched $168,000 on an estimate of $120,000–$140,000, and a modern violin from the School of ...
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ArticleThe Strad December 2013 issue is on sale now
The December issue of The Strad is now on sale. In this edition the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter discusses her many-stranded approach to bringing classical music to the new generation, plus there is a chance to win one of ten copies of Mutter’s new Dvorák Violin Concerto ...
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FocusNever judge a book by its cover
This story about the instrument repairer and the farmer's violin from The Strad, November 1959, contains all the hallmarks of the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Ugly Duckling. Its message remains as pertinent today as ever
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BlogsJanine Jansen on the struggle and pain of Britten's Violin Concerto
Benjamin Britten, born 100 years ago today, produced only a small number of string works, but musicians rate them among the greatest – and most testing – of the 20th century. Violinist Janine Jansen describes the enduring lure of his Violin Concerto
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ArticleStrad Fest LA to showcase eight Stradivari violins
Eight of Stradivari’s best known violins are to go on display in Los Angeles as part of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Strad Fest LA event, which will run from 26–29 March 2014. The eight instruments are the ‘Serdet’ Strad of 1666, the 1708 ‘Ruby’ (pictured), the ...
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FocusFrom the archive: The day the 'Huberman' Strad reappeared
In this article from The Strad 1987, Charles Beare recalls the media storm that followed the discovery of the stolen Stradivari violin