How much has this violin been played?
One of the questions that I frequently hear as a violin dealer is whether a violin has been played regularly or not. It is one of the questions that well intentioned teachers seem to think should be asked, and that should have some material effect on the choice of an instrument, however it is often […]
Spur Violins: The UK Preview…
I’ve been working with the Australian violin maker Paul Llewellyn Davis for quite a few years now on conceptualising his incredible semi-acoustic violins. His story goes back decades further to a conversation with Stephané Grapelli about the characteristics he was looking for in a violin for use on stage that gave a true violin sound […]
Andrea Amati: Cambridge Lecture 2017
I’m always thrilled to visit the Cambridge Violin Making Workshop in what has become a yearly routine giving lectures during the summer schools. This year was a chance to talk about Andrea Amati, and most of all to ponder where the ideas came from that gave birth to the violin. Would you have guessed that […]
Violin Making Schools in Britain
Britain has an incredibly vibrant culture for violin making, and its schools enjoy an enviable reputation attracting students from all over the world. Over the years different institutions have come and gone, but Newark College of Violin Making in Nottinghamshire, South Thames College in London, Glasgow Clyde College and West Dean College in West Sussex provide […]
1734 Habeneck Stradivari at the Royal Academy of Music 2017
Delighted again to lecture at the Royal Academy of Music in January 2017 in collaboration with Peter Sheppard Skaerved, John Dilworth and Neil Heyde, exploring the world of François-Antoine Habeneck and his extraordinary Stradivari of 1734.
Viotti and Stradivari at the Royal Academy of Music 2016
Delighted to team up with Peter Sheppard Skaerved, John Dilworth, Barbara Meyer and Luca Alessandri to discuss the 1709 Viotti Stradivari for a study day at the Royal Academy of Music in September 2016. There wasn’t much more that I could add to John Dilworth’s survey of the instrument, so I spoke about the Enlightenment […]
1816: George Wren Le Grand’s views as a violin connoisseur.
George Wren Le Grand was a frequent contributor to The Gentleman’s Magazine during the Regency period under the initials GWL. As a dilettante and virtuoso, his collection of objects of virtue filled an entire Sotheby’s catalogue upon his death in 1836. As a connoisseur and amateur player of violins, his published insights about instruments give us one […]
Joseph Panormo.
The Panormo family are amongst the most celebrated violin makers to ever have worked in London. Vincenzo, who came from Palermo in Sicily worked his way through Italy, Paris and Dublin to reach London. A violin by his Italian-born son Joseph reveals unexpectedly clear Neapolitan influence, and raises questions about the family’s identity as Italian violin […]
1998: A Tribute to Neil Ertz
Neil Értz (1966-2016) was one of Britain’s best loved violin makers. I had the pleasure of selling a few of his instruments and chatting to him frequently about the new instruments that he was making, and the greater pleasure of counting him amongst my friends. A 1998 copy of Guarneri’s 1742 ‘Lord Wilton’ allows a […]
My Fiddle: British Pathé 1935
Instrument making in London celebrates a centenary since the National School for the Music Trades was first established. A film by British Pathé sheds light on what the extraordinary institution once was. The National School for the Music Trades was established in 1916 at the Polytechnic Institute of North London, and survives today after […]
