Playing
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FeatureThe Strad guide to the best handmade electric violins
For maximum thrills, it’s hard to beat an electric violin at full throttle. There are many factory models, but here Christian Garrick test-drives some of the most innovative handmade instruments available today
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Blogs
Rachel Barton Pine: 10 tips for practice and performance
The Strad attended a masterclass with the American violinist in 2015 and took down these practical pointers
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Feature
Anton Lukoszevieze: Life Lessons
The British cellist, composer and founder of new music group Apartment House on John Cage and how visual art helped to open his mind
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Feature
Playing fit for a queen: Postcard from Brussels
This year’s Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium was devoted to the violin, and showcased a set of distinct and accomplished performances by the twelve finalists, as Tim Homfray reports
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Feature
Blaze of glory: Postcard from Montreal
At the Montreal International Musical Competition, Tom Stewart heard a winning performance full of fire among a seriously impressive field of contestants
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Premium ❘ Feature
Leon Bosch: Irrepressible Drive
South African-born double bassist Leon Bosch has held top orchestral posts and performed as a soloist on multiple international stages since arriving in the UK in 1982. But, as he tells Kimon Daltas , now is not the time to rest on his laurels, as new works and new challenges ...
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Premium ❘ Feature
Masterclass: Johannes Moser on Mendelssohn’s Cello Sonata no.2
Johannes Moser takes a look at tempo, dynamics and the relationship between instruments in the exciting and energetic first movement of the D major op.58 Sonata
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Premium ❘ Feature
Leonidas Kavakos: Social Harmony
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos this year presented his eighth Musical Horizons Conservatory masterclass series. Toby Deller attended the three-day event in Athens, during which Kavakos proved himself to be not only an intelligent and dedicated teacher, but also an advocate of social cohesion and personal responsibility through music
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Premium ❘ Feature
From the Archive: August 1959
Violinist Mavis Bacca Dowden reports from the fourth edition of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition, where Jaime Laredo was victorious and Joseph Silverstein came third
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Premium ❘ Feature
Sentimental Work: Barry Guy
The British double bassist recalls his first encounters with Iannis Xenakis’s solo work Theraps – including some frank exchanges with the composer himself
