Violinist and creator Daniel Kurganov has released a new video. Listen to it here and see if you start to ask yourself some questions…

Kurganov shares: ’How do we understand what is good string playing? What exactly have we learnt about the intricacies of nuance and beauty? Is it a mystery? Can it be taught or understood in explicit terms? Or can it only be emulated and passed on from one emotional being to the next? I would like to gently challenge all of our preconceptions with this sample of music.

’What you are hearing is music entirely composed by and played by Artificial Intelligence. My role was minimal, limited to guiding the AI with simple text instructions. This represents a groundbreaking moment advancement in technology—and this is the dumbest these tools will ever be. So, we must ask: are we seeing the end of classical music as we know it, or does this mark a new beginning?’

Best of Technique

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Masterclass

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.