Cremona Musica 2026: The Strad’s round-up

The 2026 Cremona Musica Expo and Festival took place from 2–4 October at the Cremona Exhibition Centre in Cremona, Italy, and the ten team members from The Strad  that attended were in a whirlwind of activity all weekend.

For the editorial team, managing editor Christian met with luthiers from far and wide, listening to pitches for future features and attending events such as the Scrollavezza & Zanrè exhibition with Reuning & Son Violins, the Cuvée Darling Cremona Exhibition, the Amorim Fine Violins exhibition, as well the book launch for Florian Leonhard’s The Great Masters: Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù.

Staff writer Rita bee-lined from stand to stand finding out about new products – from familiar cases and rosins, to newer innovations such as filtering systems for varnish fumes and ebony alternatives. She also tried out new strings and instruments, including discovering how well the latest Yamaha five-string violin takes to chopping technique. 

Editorial assistant Lauren spearheaded The Strad’s social media to share interesting moments throughout the weekend, including Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang’s masterclass at the Stauffer Academy, a violinist being painted as she played, and photographing virtually every dog she came across. She also had fun trying out cellos by contemporary makers and the latest synthetic and gut strings.

Together, Rita and Lauren attempted to tally which pieces they heard sampled most often over the course of the weekend. For the violinists, the winner was the Sibelius Violin Concerto; for the cellists, the Prokofiev Cello Sonata was the breakaway lead.

For Mariette and Elly on the advertising team, Cremona Musica gave them the chance to meet with clients in person and to forge connections with businesses both new and old. The exhibition’s new section for conservatoires also gave business development manager Gordana a great opportunity to chat outside of emails in her first Cremona Musica trip since she rejoined The Strad to lead school subscriptions.

Meanwhile, The Strad’s stand was constantly busy with people coming to grab their free copy of the September 2026 issue, browsing our range of posters and checking out the book bundles on offer. Team members Paul, Bryony, Radhika and Enrico worked like a well-oiled machine to pack up the orders and answer any questions the visitors might have. On the first day alone, it was calculated that on average, a new purchase was made every six minutes throughout all operating hours!

This year, the most popular posters were the 1642 Nicolò Amati cello, the Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ ‘Rovelli’ and ‘Lord Wilton’ violins from 1742, and the 1735 ‘Plowden’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin – which is now sold out entirely. For the books, both In Focus 3  and The Best of Trade Secrets 6  sold out of all available stock in Cremona. The Strad Calendar 2027 was another popular choice – still available for purchase here.

It wasn’t all work, however, as The Strad team enjoyed performances both formal and impromptu by artists including Thomas Demenga, Francesca Dego, Hellen Weiss, Gabriel Schwabe, Robert Stepanian, Francesco Vila, Nicola Segatta, Benjamin Beilman, Timothy Chooi, Nikki Chooi, Jeremy Cohen and Laura Andriani, as well as a performance by young string players as part of the Suzuki Talent Centre Music Academy in Consenza and the ’Saverio Arlia’ State Music Conservatory’s collaborative Suzuki Method project.

The annual Friends of Stradivari get-together at Cremona’s Museo del Violino was focused on the Sasakawa Music Foundation (formerly the Nippon Music Foundation), which was restarting its annual concert series featuring instruments from its collection. The evening was a veritable festival of fine instruments, with performances by Benjamin Beilman, Timothy Chooi, Nikki Chooi, Rino Yoshimoto, Reiko Watanabe, and the members of the Goldmund Quartet, all performing on instruments by Antonio Stradivari – including the so-called Paganini Quartet.  

The Cremona Musica Gala Concert took place on 3 October at the Museo Del Violino and included an award ceremony. This year’s Performance Award was given to Vilde Frang, while the Music and Vision prize went to Belgian violinist Michael Guttman and an Abbiati Record Award to Italian cellist Miriam Prandi.