Violist Ayane Kozasa performs the five-movement work Unspoken, by US composer Daniel Temkin. The work was one of five pieces recognised by the American Viola Society in the 2022 Gardner Composition Competition.

Unspoken (2012-20) is a collection of solo viola miniatures written off and on over many years. Each movement was composed succinctly in a matter of a few days, almost like little diary entries,’ says Temkin.

’The notion of “unspoken” refers to a sense of energy, or emotion, or time - some force that can push and pull, or ebb back and forth freely, without necessarily being spelled out explicitly.’

The intimate sound engineering was done by Grammy-nominated producer Ryan Streber. 

Ayane Kozasa is a laureate of the Primrose Viola Competition and was a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, with whom she received the  M-Prize and the Cleveland Quartet Award. Ayane has performed in Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Ravinia, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. A veteran artist of Music from Angel Fire and the Marlboro Music Festival, Kozasa is a professor at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She actively champions new music, premiering many new works each season as a soloist, and as a member of The Owls.

Unspoken will feature on Daniel Temkin’s debut solo album COLORS, to be released 8 March 2024 on Orchid Classics.

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.