2012 40th Annual Convention & 20th International Competition
November 11-16, 2012 • Renaissance Cleveland Hotel • Cleveland, Ohio
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1
A Message from the President
Welcome VSA members! I hope you are looking forward to a
fantastic week bursting with expert lecturers, shopping with
assorted vendors, a rare study exhibit, an innovation exhibit, and
music from baroque to folk. Experts in the field will enlighten
you about making, varnish, marketing, legal regulations, and
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen instruments. 2012 marks the
most expansive vendor’s exhibit ever with the sale of materials,
instruments, bows, books, tools, and accessories. You will have
an opportunity to study instruments that span 500 years of the best violin making
the world has to offer. The innovation exhibit will feature the work of Hors’ Concours
makers and creative innovations in making. To conclude a full day, relax and enjoy
the varied genres of music offered by an ensemble of viols, the Miami String Quartet,
and the Jeremy Kittel Band. Join the Board of Directors, judges, staff, and volunteers
for a delicious banquet followed by the recognition of competition winners and Hors’
Concours recipients. To round out the week, winning instruments will be played
by judges in conjunction with a panel to prepare you for the 2014 competition in
Indianapolis. I hope you enjoy the week and take advantage of all the offerings
provided by the Violin Society of America during its 40th annual convention and 20th
international competition.
Rodney D. Mohr, President
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VSA Board of Directors 2011-12
Board Members-at-Large
Lisbeth Nelson Butler
Rolland Feller
Claire Givens
Alvin Thomas King
Ryan P. McLaughlin
John Montgomery
Chris Reuning
Carla Shapeau
Erin Shrader
William Sloan
Ken Sullivan
James Warren
Ted White
President
Rodney Mohr
Vice President
Jerry Pasewicz
President-Elect
Christopher Germain
Past President
Marilyn Wallin
Treasurer
Todd Goldenberg
Secretary
Julius J. VandeKopple
Executive Director
Phil Pyster, CAE
Credits and Acknowledgements
Convention Director
Rodney Mohr
Innovation Exhibit / Hors’ Concours
Fan Tao
Competition Director
Jerry Pasewicz
Makers’ Forum
William Scott
Convention Emcee
Marilyn Wallin
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen
Exhibit
Bruce Babbitt, Curator
Commercial Exhibit
Lori Kirr
Scholarship Auction
David Bonsey, Auctioneer
Study Exhibit
Jim Warren, Chris Reuning,
and Jeff Holmes
Host Shop
Yanbing Chen and Cleveland Violins
VSA Staff
Office Telephone: 407-647-8839
Lyn Henderson, CMP
Food & Beverage Management, VIP and
Registration Management
Alison Hodges
Meeting Room Management,
Competition Assistance
Mark Mitchell
Exhibit Director, Tradeshow Management
Lane Wadsworth
Art Director, Publications, Graphic
Design & Website Management
Debbie Batchelor
Bookkeeper
www.kremerpigments.com
Kremer Pigments Inc.
247 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001
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Phone (212) 219-2394
Fax (212) 219-2395
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Edward (Ed) Ball
Mr. Ball has been a collector of German made instruments for over twenty five years.
His primary interest is in Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen violins and is a major
contributor to the exhibit. In March, 2003, Mr. Ball authored an article titled “Mass
Markies” that appeared in The Strad. He currently resides in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Bruce Babbitt
Bruce Babbitt received his BFA from the Honors College at Kent State University
specializing in painting and sculpture. He received his MA from the Royal College of
Art in sculpture.
His first interest in was in violin identification, buying, and selling of instruments,
started in London in 1973. Bruce has worked at these endeavors for nearly forty
years. His interest has been a broad one, specializing in the general market of
violins and bows. Bruce is also an avid collector of certain items that he thinks are
exceptional examples of their type. He has plans in the works to author a book in
order to share this collection.
Bruce worked coordinated his efforts with the VSA to present the exhibition on
The History of Violin Making in Ohio at the 38th Convention in 2010. Currently he is
organizing an exhibition on Violin Making from Vogtländ, 1910-1945, to be presented
at the 2012 VSA Convention and Competition in Cleveland, Ohio.
David Bonsey
David Bonsey is a luthier and appraiser, and currently directs musical instrument
auctions at Skinner Inc. He has contributed to Forbes, The New York Times, and
The Wall Street Journal, and is a featured appraiser for Antiques Roadshow on PBS
television.
Yung Chin
Yung Chin has had a long association with the VSA starting as a contestant at the
1982 VSA competition held in Salt Lake City. After working six summers with Vahan
Nigogosian, the inspiration for the summer VSA programs in Oberlin, Yung created
and ran the Oberlin bowmaking seminar for eight years. He has given many lectures
at VSA meetings over the years and has been a frequent judge at international bow
competitions. He is a past president of IPCI-USA and is current international chair of
the IPCI world wide efforts. Yung has just completed a book on Nikolai Kittel along
with colleagues Klaus Grünke and Joseph Gabriel.
5
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Alvaro de Granada
Alvaro de Granda, violinist, joined the first-violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra
in 1966, appointed by George Szell. In 1968, he was promoted to assistant
concertmaster, a position he held for 31 years. A native of Havana, Cuba, Alvaro
began studying the violin at the age of four and made his first public appearance
as a violinist when he was six. At 14 he was awarded a full scholarship to the Curtis
Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Toshiya Eto and Efrem
Zimbalist, Sr. He also studied in Europe with Yehudi Menuhin and Nadia Boulanger.
Upon graduation from Curtis at age 20, Leopold Stokowski appointed Alvaro to the
first-violin section of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, he was
named assistant concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where he
served for four years before joining the Cleveland Orchestra. Alvaro has performed
in the United States, Europe, and Latin America, and has participated in the Aspen,
Casals, and Marlboro music festivals.
Andrew Dipper
Andrew Dipper, born in London, studied instrument making with his family, worked
for Tony Bingham in London (1966-1975), and collaborated with his brother Colin, a
maker, musician, and restorer of free-reed instruments. In 1975 he went to Cremona,
where he studied violin making, ran a shop, and was influenced by Francesco
Bissolotti. Andrew taught in Lombardy and at the International School of Violin
Making, and he and Cristina Rivaroli translated Sacconi’s The “Secrets” of Stradivari
into English.
In 1980, Andrew moved to Taynton, Oxfordshire, to set up a restoration shop. He
has published pamphlets about varnishing, gilding, and dyeing, worked with David
Woodrow to translate the notes of Count Cozio di Salabue, and edited the English
catalog of the Stradivari collection in Cremona. He is now translating the notes of
Nicholas Lupot, re-editing his book about the geometry and placement of sound
holes, and producing books about the plucked stringed instruments of Antonio
Stradivari and the geometry of the Cremonese violin. His recent restorations include
a bass lute by W. Tieffenbrucker, 1601; a six-string violette by Grancino, 1701; a cello
by A. F. Mayr, 1737; and a piccolo cello by the Kolmern family, ca. 1730.
6
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Peter Dominguez
Peter Dominguez is Professor of Jazz Studies and Double Bass at the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music. He is also director of the Oberlin Jazz Septet, an ensemble
that represents the most outstanding student performers, arrangers, and composers
who have been handpicked by the Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s legendary jazz
faculty.
Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dominguez began his double bass studies with
noted band director Bernard Stepner and Clyde Russell; he also performed with the
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestras. At age 16, he joined the musicians’ union
and began performing with his father, pianist and vocalist Frank DeMiles.
Dominguez earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degrees in double bass from
the University of Wisconsin– Madison, studying with Roger Ruggeri and Richard
Davis. In 1981, he was the first recipient of the Milton J. Hinton Scholarship award,
established by the legendary bassist’s family and given to jazz bass students to
help pay for private teachers. Dominguez went on to complete his doctorate in
musical arts at the University of Miami–Coral Gables with Dr. Lucas Drew. Dominguez
continued his double bass studies with Robert Gladstone while teaching at Michigan
State University from 1984 to 1996.
Dominguez has been a member of the International Society of Bassists (ISB) since
1974 and has served on its board of directors. He also has served on the boards of
the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Jazz Alliance of Michigan, and the
American Sinfonietta. He is a member of the board of directors of the Richard Davis
Foundation for Young Bassists and coordinates the foundation’s annual conference
in Madison, Wisconsin. From 1993 to 1997, Dominguez was a judge for the ISB’s
International Jazz Bass competitions and was featured in the 1997 International
Portrait Calendar.
Principal bass with the American Sinfonietta since 1991, Dominguez has performed
throughout the Americas and Europe with the Miami String Quartet, the Los Angeles
Piano Quartet, the St. Petersburg Quartet, the Roycroft Chamber Players, and the
Fontana Chamber Players. He has been principal bass with the Greater Lansing
Symphony Orchestra, the Jackson Symphony, and the Kalamazoo Symphony,
and has been a section bassist with the Miami Chamber Symphony, the Florida
Philharmonic, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Dominguez has also appeared in jazz performances with Benny Carter, Tommy
Flanagan, Jon Hendricks, J.J. Johnson, John Lewis, Mark Murphy, Woody Shaw, and
Ira Sullivan. Dominguez can be heard on the ELF, Fossil, Mijawa, Natural Soundfields,
Pug, Smitty Music, Summit, Wheatland, and Winterfare labels. In 2007, Dominguez
collaborated with fellow jazz studies faculty members to produce Beauty Surrounds
Us, a recording for the Conservatory’s new music label, Oberlin Music.
7
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Marcia Ferito
Marcia Ferritto, violist, received her professional training in Philadelphia as a student
of Max Aronoff at The New School of Music. Her studies also include work with
William Lincer, Joseph Fuchs and Donald McInnes. Ms. Ferritto holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree, cum laude, from Bryn Mawr College, where she was awarded the
Presser Foundation Scholarship Award. She has appeared as a soloist and in
chamber ensembles in the United States and Canada at the Kennedy Center, the
New York and Philadelphia Composers Forum, Blossom Music Center Festival Forum,
International Viola Congress in Toronto, the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC and
the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. She has served as principal
violist of the New Haven Symphony Chamber Players, the Columbus Symphony
Orchestra (Ohio) and the Ohio Chamber Orchestra. Appointed to the full-time
faculty at Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music in the fall of 1995,
she currently teaches violin, viola and string chamber music, is coordinator of the
graduate string quartet program and has been a member of the artist faculty of the
Kent/Blossom Summer Music Festival.
David Forbes
David H. Forbes makes bows in the French tradition for all stringed instruments. He
also provides repair, restorations and rehairing. David started as a violin and bow
maker in the early 1980s, and now works exclusively with bows.
David is a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers Inc. He
served on its Board of Governors for two years.
David’s early training was with Gino Cavaceppi, an Italian violin and bow maker,
in the early 80s. He then studied with Bill Salchow, both at the University of New
Hampshire workshops and in New York in the mid- to late 80s. Stephane Thomachot
invited David to work with him in his shop in Paris during the summer of 1995.
David’s awards include two gold medals in VSA competitions, and numerous
certificates of merit from VSA competitions, the City of Paris competition and
Manchester Cello Festival.
David has been the Director of the Oberlin Bow Making Workshops for the VSA since
2005.
Christopher Germain
Christopher Germain makes award-winning violins, violas, and cellos in his studio in
Philadelphia. Christopher attended the Chicago School of Violin Making, where he
was a student of Tschu Ho Lee. After graduating in 1985, he went on to work for the
Chicago firms of Kenneth Warren and Son and Bein & Fushi, Inc., before opening his
own studio in 1991. In 1995, he was invited by legendary restorer Vahakn Nigogosian
to assist in teaching at the VSA’s Stringed Instrument Restoration Workshop at
Oberlin College in Ohio. He eventually became director of the Restoration Workshop
and currently directs the VSA/Oberlin Violin Making Workshop.
8
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Christopher is a member and Past President of the American Federation of Violin
and Bow Makers, Inc. As President, he conceived and produced “The American
Violin,” an historic celebration of the art and craft of violin making in America that
took place in 2006 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He has served
on the Governing Board and is currently president elect of the VSA and a member
of the Entente Internationale des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers d’Art. He has
lectured and demonstrated his craft at venues around the world, including The
Central Conservatory of Beijing, the Australian Violin Maker’s Association, the VSA,
and many others. Last fall, Christopher served on the jury at the 12th International
Triennial Competition of Stringed Instrument Making in Cremona, Italy.
Klaus Grünke
Klaus Grünke learned the craft of bow making from his father Richard Grünke, in
Bubenreuth between 1975 and 1978. The period 1980 to 1982 was an important
stimulus for his future career. During this time he worked for Hans Weisshaar in Los
Angeles, focusing intensively both on restoration techniques and the study of older
master bows. After returning to Bubenreuth he continued to work in his fathers
workshop,using his own name on the bows.
In 1985 he took his master’s examination in bow making under the auspices of the
HWK Nuremberg. Since 1996 he has been co- owner of the family workshop “Richard
Grünke & Söhne GmbH in Langensendelbach.
He successfully participated in international competitions: among others, in 1980,
in Hempstead, N.Y., he was awarded two gold medals and in 1983 in Kassel, he
received the overall silver medal. Later on he has been called to serve on the jury of
numerous bow making competitions all over the world.
In addition to bow making, Klaus Grünke has devoted himself to the study of various
theoretical aspects of his field. He has written a number of articles in both trade
magazines and books, sharing the results of his research. In the year 2000 he wrote
and published together with his colleagues C. Hans Karl Schmidt and Wolfgang
Zunterer the encyclopedia “German Bow Makers”.
He also plays an active and leading role in the IPCI, International Pernambuco
Conservation Initiative, which was founded by bow makers from all over the world in
Paris 2001. The major aim of the initiative is the conservation and the introduction
of sustainable use for the scarce but for bow making inevitable Pernambuco tree.
His violin and viola bows are primarily made following the models of Dominique
Peccatte, Francois Xavier Tourte and Nikolaus Kittel. The cello bows are made in the
style of Francois Nicolas Voirin, although he also uses the Nicolas Maire, Nikolaus
Kittel and Francois Xavier Tourte models. His bows are usually stamped KLAUS
GRÜNKE. He also offers detailed copies of old master bows, these bows have a small
K.G. stamped on the seating for the frog.
In his quest to improve the playing quality of his bows he has developed a special
working relationship with violinist Vadim Repin and the cellists David Geringas and
Mischa Maisky.
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Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
David Gusset
David Gusset was born in San Francisco in 1951. He began his studies of art and
music at an early age. In 1974 he began his violin making apprenticeship at the new
school in Salt Lake City where he studied with Paul Hart and Peter Prier and became
one of the first graduates of the program. As a journeyman, he then returned to San
Francisco to learn repair, working at Frank Passa’s violin shop up until 1979.
Mr. Gusset received three gold medals at VSA competitions in 1978 and 1980
for violin and viola. In 1983 he was designated Hors’ Concours by the VSA and
thereafter excluded from its competitions. He was a prize winner at the first AFVBM
competition at Lincoln Center in 1983 and won the First prize/gold medal at the
only AFVBM competition for cello making in 1986. In 1985 he received both the
Gold Medal for violin making and the Simone Fernando Sacconi medal for “The
instrument most representative of the classical Cremonese school” at the Cremona
Triennale and was a prize winner at the Paris International Competition in 1990. In
2000 he was a judge at the Cremona Triennale international competition. He has
been a member of the AFVBM since 1983 and a member of the EILA since 1990. He
is the recipient of grants from the Smithsonian Institution and from the Fine Arts
Museums of San Francisco to prepare detailed illustrations of the 1683 “ex-Ole Bull”
Stradivari violin and the 1742 “ex-Ferdinand David/Jascha Heifetz” Guarneri del Gesu
violin.
Mr. Gusset now lives and works in Oregon where he divides his time between
making, repairing, restoration and appraisals. He has contributed articles to Strings
Magazine, The Strad, American Lutherie, Fiddler Magazine and other publications. In
addition to his violin work, he also has a strong interest in Community, Architecture
and Historic Preservation. He is owner and restorer of an 1870 Carpenter’s Gothic
home and carriage house which are city landmarks and listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. The carriage house has been adapted into a comfortable
violin workshop.
Michael Haber
Michael Haber, a student of Janos Starker and Gregor Piatigorsky, graduated
with high academic honors from Brandeis University with a degree in European
History. He did his graduate work at Harvard and at Indiana University. Mr. Haber
was a member of The Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell, the Casals Festival
Orchestra under Pablo Casals and The Mostly Mozart Orchestra at Lincoln Center
in New York City. He was the principal cellist of several orchestras, including the
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in Boulder, Colorado. With the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra, he toured and recorded throughout Europe, the USA and Asia.
Mr. Haber has been on the cello and chamber music faculties of Oberlin College,
Indiana University, The New England Conservatory of Music, the Eastman School of
Music, Boston University and the University of Akron. He also taught and performed
at many summer festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Yellow Barn and Musicorda.
For ten years, he was the coach for the cello section of The New World Symphony in
Miami Beach and also coached the Asian Youth Orchestra cello section before one of
their European tours.
12
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
His chamber music career includes international tours as the cellist of The
Composers Quartet, in residence at Columbia University in New York, cellist of The
Gabrielli Trio for 20 years, together with violinist James Buswell, and numerous
appearances at music festivals and concert series throughout the USA.
Among the comments for Mr. Haber’s performances, the New York Times spoke
of “the lyricism and perfection of his playing,” the London Times called him “a
romantic cellist” and The Cleveland Plain Dealer called him “a superb musician.”
Roger Hargrave
Roger Graham Hargrave was born in Leeds, England, in 1948. He initially studied and
taught fine arts in English state schools. He began his instrument making career
in the 1970s making and decorating harpsichords and spinets. He later trained as a
violin maker at the Newark School of Violin Making in Nottinghamshire. From there,
he joined the workshop of W. E. Hill & Sons, London. In 1981, Hargrave moved to
Bremen, Germany where he eventually established his own business specializing in
the detailed reproduction of classical Italian instruments. He has won many awards
for his instrument making, including a coveted gold medal at the International
Triennial Competition in Cremona in 1978. For more than twenty five years he has
served as a jury member at various international violinmaking competitions and this
year again he will be judging the Violin Society of America Competition. Hargrave
is a leading authority on the construction of classical Cremonese violins and he
regularly gives lectures on violin related themes. Roger Hargrave has published
extensively and is currently writing a book about the History and Identification of
Cremonese Violins.
David Hawthorne
David Hawthorne is an American bow maker living in Cambridge, MA, USA. He
grew up playing violin, and began bowmaking with William Salchow in 1979. Later
he studied with Stephane Thomachot in Paris. He headed the bow department at
Reuning and Sons in Boston for eight years. Formal education includes a Bachelor
of Music from Berklee College of Music, and two Masters of Music (Jazz Guitar and
Composition) from New England Conservatory; he is a practicing professional jazz
guitarist of high calibre.
Mr. Hawthorne has been making baroque and classical bows for almost as long as
he has been making modern bows, and he has made a point of studying bows, both
early and modern, in private collections and at museums around Europe and the US.
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Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Jeffrey Holmes
Jeffrey studied making with Tschu Ho Lee at the Chicago School of Violin Making.
His background in music and sculpture prior to violin making school was beneficial,
and the experience was enhanced by his employment by conservator Dudley
Greeley and violin maker Marilyn Wallin while in school. After graduating in 1985,
he worked with David Burgess at Shar in Ann Arbor, MI, making new instruments
and performing restoration work. During his 17 year stay at Shar, he worked with
a number of restorers including Mark Norfleet, Jerry Pasewicz, Oliver Radke, and
Anton Smith. From 1995-2003, he served as Vice-President of Shar Fine Instruments.
In May of 2003, Jeffrey left the firm and opened his own studio where he offers
restoration, appraisal, expertise, and sales of old and contemporary instruments
and bows. Jeff the director of the VSA/Oberlin Summer Instrument Restoration
Workshop, is a member of the Appraisers Association of America, serves on the
Board of Directors at the Chicago School of Violin Making, and served on the Board
of Directors for the Violin Society of America for eight years (2000-2008).
Benny Kim (Violinist - Miami String Quartet)
Benny Kim is highly regarded as soloist, chamber musician and teacher. He is a
proud product of the Suzuki Method, which he began at age 10. As a teenager, he
won competitions with the Chicago and St. Louis symphonies, and at age 20, he won
the Young Concert Artists International Auditions; under their aegis, he made his
92nd Street Y debut. Mr. Kim has now performed with the symphonies of Chicago,
Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Detroit, and internationally with the Hong Kong
Philharmonic, the Orquésta Sinfonica Nacional de México, and the major orchestras
of South Africa. In recital, Kim has performed in virtually every major city in the US.
Mr. Kim is first violinist of the Miami String Quartet, winner of the Cleveland Quartet
Award; they participate as faculty members and quartet in residence at Kent State
University. Collaborating with long-time friends plays an important role in Mr. Kim’s
musical career. He has made two recordings with violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
for EMI—Bella Italia and Night and Day. He recently played with violinist Daniel Hope,
he frequently performs with The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, and he especially
collaborates with his brother, cellist Eric Kim. Together, they have performed their
signature piece, Brahms’ Double Concerto, numerous times.
Mr. Kim has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, and is
currently associate professor of violin at the University of Missouri/Kansas City
Conservatory of Music. While at Juilliard, residents of his hometown, Macomb, IL,
along with faculty members of Western Illinois University, raised funds to help him
acquire a 1732 Stradivarius violin. When not performing, Mr. Kim is avid about golf.
Yanik le Canu
Yannick Le Canu Born in 1976. He trained as a bow maker from 1995-1998 in the
workshop taken over by Loïc Le Canu from Bernard MIllant in Paris, and under Gilles
Duhaut in Mirecourt. In 1998, he took his journeyman’s examination under Eric
Grandchamp. He went on to be employed under Loïc Le Canu, and to work in the joint
workshop Arezzo in Toulouse. Now he shares his workshop with Juliette DesMarchelier,
violin maker in Lille. His many international prizes were awarded from the City of Paris,
BVMA, and the VSA. He now serves as a jurist in International Competitions.
15
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Scott Lee (Violist - Miami String Quartet)
Scott Lee has established himself as one of the most exciting and unique violists.
His exceptional musicality and virtuositic playing distinguish him as one of this
generation’s quintessential artists.
Winner of the 1996 Concert Artists Guild Competition, he became the youngest
winner in the Competition’s 50 year history. Mr. Lee has been a top prize winner
in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the William Primrose Viola
Competition, and the Corpus Christi (TX) Young Artists Competition. Scott Lee
has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including San Diego Symphony
and L.A Chamber Orchestra. Other orchestral performances include the Longmont
Philharmonic, and the International Sejong Soloists. In recital, he has performed at
Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in
Washington D.C. Scott Lee has been a featured soloist at the International Hindemith
Viola Festival and at the 22nd and 24th International Viola Congresses.
Scott Lee is also an extremely active chamber musician. Recent highlights of Mr.
Lee’s chamber music concert schedule include performances at the Chamber
Music Northwest, OK Mozart Festival, Newport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla
Summerfest, Ravinia Festival, New York City’s Bargemusic, Chamber Music Society of
Lincoln Center, Musicians from Marlboro, Merkin Concert Hall, and Taiwan’s National
Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Gardner Museum in Boston and the Metropolitan
Museum, the Marlboro Festival and in numerous chamber music venues across the
United States. He has also collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard,
Orion, and Miami String Quartets, and performed with members of the Beaux Arts
and Mannes Piano Trios. His chamber music partners have included such renowned
artists as Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, Ralph Kirshbaum, David Soyer,
Peter Wiley, and Gary Hoffman.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Mr. Lee began his music studies on the violin at age eight
studying with Chia-Rong Lin. He took up the viola at age thirteen, and came to the
United States the next year to study at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California,
where his viola teacher was Donald McInnes and his violin teacher was Alice
Schoenfield. He has studied with Michael Tree at the Curtis Institute of Music and at
The Juilliard School where he studied with Paul Neubauer.
He is now Professor of Viola at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory
of Music and a faculty member at the Idyllwild Chamber Music Festival and Workshop
in California.
Gary Lougee
Gary is a Lacey Act Officer, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, APHIS PPQ,
based in Riverdale, MD. Gary’s focus will be on the Lacey Act Requirements for
Plants and Plant Products.
16
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Michael Molnar
Michael R. Molnar is an astronomer, educator, programmer, and now violin maker
with a long history in academe and industry. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from
the University of Wisconsin in 1971 and pursued research in magnetic stars.
Dr. Molnar served on the research teams for several space missions such as the
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-2 and Mariner 9 Mars Orbiter. He has taught
and conducted research at the University of Colorado, The University of Toledo, and
Rutgers University. In industry he was an optics researcher or data communications
analyst at Boehringer Mannheim Diagnostics, Schlumberger, and Bell Laboratories.
As National Director of Academics at the Chubb Institute he created curricula for
training data base managers, programmers, paralegals, and medical assistants.
Perhaps most noteworthy is his highly acclaimed book explaining the Star of
Bethlehem which results in widely-seen TV appearances at Christmas time.
Retiring in 2004 Dr. Molnar switched his attention to violins. Building on his
experience from his father’s tool & die firm, he uses CAD drawings and CNC
machining to make and test violins. Mike, as his friends know him, can be found at
Oberlin and various workshops, VMAAI competitions and VSA meetings. Now, his
experience and fascination with color and optical effects brings him to explain what
luthiers really see in their instruments.
Rodney Mohr
Rodney is a graduate of the Kenneth Warren & Son School of Violin Making, now
known as the Chicago School of Violin Making. He has been active in bow making
for over 25 years and is a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow
Makers where he earned the degree of Master of Bow Making.
Rodney and his wife Ann, established Mohr & Mohr in Mansfield, Ohio. This marks
their 27th anniversary in business, now in Ashland, Ohio. They also have two
additional shops in Cleveland’s Little Italy and downtown Oberlin. He has produced
more than 800 bows and has restored a countless number of fine bows.
As Co-Director of the VSA Oberlin Bow Restoration Workshop, Rodney has taught
many students the fine art of repair and restoration. He has been a guest instructor
at the North Bennett Street School in Boston and given demonstrations at the
Chicago School of Violin Making.
Rodney has won 20 awards in international competitions. After winning his third
gold medal with the Violin society of America, he is no longer eligible to compete
and has earned the title of Hors’ Concours. He was awarded his Hors’ Concours
Certificate at the 19th Violin Society Competition and Convention in Cleveland, OH
on November 11, 2010. Rodney served as a bow workmanship judge for the VSA
International Competition in Portland, Oregon in 2008. In 1999, he received third
prize for a bass bow in the 2nd Concours International de Paris.
Rodney is currently serving as President of the Violin Society of America and is past
president of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers.
18
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
William Monical
William Monical is a violin maker and restorer in New York City with expertise in
baroque bowed string instruments. Mr. Monical works with professional musicians
and public instrument collections in the United States and Europe. In 1989 he
curated “Shapes of the Baroque,” an exhibition of original instruments at Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Mr. Monical is a founding member and
past president of the American Federation of Violin & Bow Makers, a member of
the International Society of Violin & Bow Makers and the Appraisers Association of
America.
Antoine Nedelec
Antoine Nedelec was born in France in 1975. After studying Mathematics, his love
for the violin inspired him to enroll at the Violin Making School of America. During
his student years, he was given the opportunity to work in the repair and restoration
department of Peter Prier & Sons Violins.
After Graduating in 2002, Antoine accepted a position at J&A Beare where he
had the privilege to study instruments by Stradivari, Guarneri and many other
great makers. Restoration took a backseat to new making when he opened his own
workshop in Dallas in 2005. Antoine has been awarded a certificate of merit for his
instruments at the two competitions he entered, in 2008 and 2010. And this year, in
collaboration with his colleague and friend Jeff Phillips, Antoine demonstrated his
varnish techniques at the prestigious Oberlin violinmaking workshop. Mr. Nedelec is
a proud member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers.
Laurinel Owen
Laurinel Owen, cellist, enjoys an international career. She was a member of the
Filarmónica de las Americas in Mexico City, Solo-Cellist of the Scottish Baroque
Ensemble in Edinburgh and Principal Cellist of the National Symphony Orchestra
of South Africa in Johannesburg. As soloist and chamber musician, she has toured
the Southern African Continent and South America and has recorded for the Dutch
Radio, the South African Broadcasting Corp., Radio France, Cablevision TV, TCI Cable
TV and German Television. She has performed at the Berlin Wall with M. Rostropovich
and the World Cello Congress, and was elected National Honorary Member of Sigma
Alpha Iota, America’s most prestigious music fraternity. She has been an Artistic
Consultant for the D’Addario String Co. and the Tomastik-Infeld String Co. in Vienna,
an instructor at the Oxford Cello School in England, and in 2000 was a Cello Tone
Judge for the VSA Violin Making Competition.
Over 120 of her articles and reviews have been published in The Strad and Strings
magazines. She has been on “assignment” in France, Germany, Russia, England, Italy,
the Czech Republic, China, South Africa and throughout the US. In 2001 the Kronberg
Academy in Germany published her biography of cellist Bernard Greenhouse and
more recently a series of DVDs with her interviews of famous cellists. Her translation
of “Master Class” with Maria Kliegel is available on Naxos – a two DVD set with book.
Ms. Owen is Artistic Director of South Country Concerts, a chamber music series in
Long Island. Since 2007 she has served as Visiting Artist in Residence at Colgate
University and she is the proprietor of a New York violin shop, House of Strings.
19
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
John Mark Pellegrino
John Mark Pellegrino is the Acting Principal Bass of the Columbus Symphony
Orchestra and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra as well as Artistic Director of
Music on the Hill. Frequent calls from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota
Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony have allowed Mr.
Pellegrino to play, tour and record with those ensembles. Other past orchestral
appearances have included concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Milwaukee
Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the North Carolina
Symphony, the Alabama Symphony, the Lake Placid Symphonietta, the New York
Virtuosi and the Philharmonia Virtuosi. Before moving to Ohio, John was a section
member of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Pellegrino has enjoyed
performing in many summer music festivals including the Grand Teton Music
Festival, Music on the Hill in East Greenwich, RI, The Roycroft Chamber Music Festival
in East Aurora, NY and with the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, WI.
Pellegrino has enjoyed teaching on the faculties of Ohio Wesleyan University,
the Eastern Music Festival, the Warwick Music Festival, Kinhaven Music Camp in
Vermont and The Chamber Music Connection in Worthington, Ohio. In 2008 John
was awarded Ohio Private/Studio Teacher of the Year by the Ohio String Teacher›s
Association. Some of Mr. Pellegrino›s top students have gone on to win competitions
held by the International Society of Bassists, U.S. Department of Education
Presidential Scholars Program, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music
Festival, Ohio String Teachers Association, ASTA, Interlochen Arts Camp and the
Philadelphia Orchestra.
Philip Perret
Philip Perret has been a luthier for over 30 years. Upon graduation from the Kenneth
Warren & Son School of Violin Making in 1980, (now known as the Chicago School
of Violin Making), he stayed on as a violin making instructor while also engaged in
repair and restoration for Kenneth Warren & Son. Beginning in 1982, he worked for
Jacques Francais Rare Violins under the direction of Rene Morel, which gave him the
opportunity to study many of the finest instruments in the world. In 1989, he moved
to Zurich as the workshop manager for Geigenbau Machold, remaining for two years
before returning to the New York area.
Since 1992 Philip Perret has had, in partnership with violin maker Henni Hahn Perret,
his workshop in Katonah, NY servicing customers, restoring and selling fine older
instruments, in addition to making violins, violas and cellos on commission. Clients
include, among others, members of The American, Chiara, Cleveland, Colorado ,
Guarneri, Juilliard and Tokyo Quartets, as well as prominent soloists, orchestral
musicians, teachers and students.
Perret, returning as a judge for this competition, is a member of the International
Society of Violin and Bow Makers, (EILA), the American Federation of Violin and Bow
Makers, and the Violin Society of America.
20
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Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Jeff Phillips
In 1999, Mr. Phillips entered the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake
City, Utah under the tutelage of head instructor Charles Woolf. In a short time he
acquired a position at Peter Prier’s Violin Shop in Salt Lake City where he worked for
over seven years. During this time he learned the fine art of repair and restoration.
Mr. Phillips still resides with his wife and son near the mountains of Salt Lake City, Utah.
He continues to keep his fingers in touch with music by playing first violin in the Salt
Lake Symphony. His instruments are being played all over the country and abroad.
Chris Reuning
Christopher Reuning is a violin maker, restorer, and expert and is the owner of
Reuning & Sons Violins and Carriage House Violins in Boston. He started out in
the business as an apprentice in Philadelphia at age 12 at the House of Primavera
in Philadelphia and supplemented his training as a violin maker in Cremona with
Virgilio Capellini and Alfredo Primavera. He has a great interest in historical research
and identification, especially the instruments and makers of the 17th and 18th
centuries. Chris credits his close associations with Dario D’Attili, Charles Beare, and
the late Robert Bein with his inspiration as an expert. Mr. Reuning is a past President
American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers and a member of the Entente
Internationale des Luthier. He also is on the board of the VSA, and serves as advisor
to the North Bennet Street School violin making program and the Museum of Fine
Arts Music Department both in Boston. Chris has been a contributor to exhibits such
as “Andrea Amati, Opera Omnia” 2007, “1520-1724 Liutai in Brescia” 2007, “Cremona
1730-1750 nell’Olimpo della Liuteria” 2008, “Carlo Bergonzi, A Cremonese Master
Unveiled” 2010, and “Giovanni Battista Guadagnini 1711-1786 Un Liutaio alla Corte di
Don Filippo di Borbone”.
Cathy Robinson (Founder - Miami String Quartet)
Violinist Cathy Meng Robinson is a founding member of the Miami String Quartet
and is currently on the faculty at Kent State University. As a member of the quartet
she has also been on the faculty of Florida International University, New World
School of the Arts in Miami, Fl., as well as visiting artist at the Hartt School of
Music. As a member of the quartet she has performed extensively throughout the
United States and Europe. Awards with the quartet include the Cleveland Quartet
Award presented by Chamber Music America, first prize in the Concert Artists
Guild competition, Grand Prize of the Fishchoff Chamber Music competition, as well
as prizes in the Evian and London String Quartet competitions. The quartet has
performed at many of the country’s top summer music festivals including Santa Fe,
La Jolla, Music from Angelfire, Kent/Blossom, Music at Menlo, Steamboat Springs,
and Bravo-Vail. She has recorded with the quartet for BMG Conifer, Pyramid, and
Musical Heritage Society labels. Cathy is a native of Greenville, SC where she began
violin at the age of six. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis
Institute of Music where she studied with Ivan Galamian and David Cerone. She
received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
where she studied with Isadore Tinkleman.
23
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Keith Robinson (Cellist - Miami String Quartet)
Keith Robinson cellist, is a founding member of the Miami String Quartet and has
been active as a chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist since his graduation from
the Curtis Institute of Music. Robinson has had numerous solo appearances with
orchestras throughout the U.S. including the New World Symphony, The American
Sinfonietta, and the Miami Chamber Symphony, and in 1989 won the P.A.C.E.
“Classical Artist of the Year” Award.
His most recent recording released on Blue Griffin Records features the Complete
works for Cello and Piano with his colleague Donna Lee. Fanfare Magazine wrote:
“I have sampled several CD’s (of the works for cello and piano by Mendelssohn)
and found them very fine, but my gut feeling is still to go with Robinson and Lee.
This one is, quite simply, amazing”. Lynn René Bayley - Fanfare Magazine. He has
performed the complete works for Cello and Piano by Beethoven on many occasions
with her as well. As a member of the Miami Quartet he has recorded for BMG, CRI,
Musical Heritage Society and Pyramid recording labels
In 1992, the Miami String Quartet became the first string quartet in a decade to win
First Prize of the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition. The Miami String
Quartet has also won recognition in competitions throughout the world; as laureate
of the 1993 Evian Competition, 1991 London String Quartet Competition, and as the
1989 Grand Prize Winner of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. In 2000 the
Quartet received the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award and was named to the
Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two Program as well.
Keith regularly attends festivals across the United States, including those in Santa
Fe, Music@Menlo, Kent Blossom Music, Mostly Mozart, Vail Music Festival, Savannah
Music Festival, and the Virginia Arts Festival. Highlights of recent seasons include
performances in New York at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, engagements in
Boston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Paul,
and Philadelphia . International highlights include appearances in Bern, Cologne,
Istanbul, Lausanne, Montreal, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Taipei and Paris.
Keith hails from a musical family and his siblings include Sharon Robinson of
the Kalichstein Laredo Robinson Trio, and Hal Robinson, Principal Bass of the
Philadelphia Orchestra. Keith plays a Giovanni Grancino cello made in Milan and
dated 1690.
Buy Your Banquet Tickets Early
Violin Society of America
$65.00
Please remember that your convention
registration does not include the banquet
ticket, which must be purchased no later than
5:00 PM on Monday in order to guarantee
the number of meals to be served. Tickets are
available at the Convention Registration Desk, Exhibitor Registration
Desk or Competition Registration Desk for $65 each.
que
aro
t o F o lk
F rom B
2012
VSA Competition
Awards Banquet
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
24
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Carol Rodland
Violist, Carol Rodland made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as
a teenager and subsequently won first prizes at the Washington International
Competition, the Artists International Auditions, and the Juilliard Concerto
Competition, as well as the Universal Editions Prize at the Lionel Tertis International
Viola Competition. She presently enjoys an international career as a concert and
recording artist and pedagogue. Fanfare describes her playing as “larger than life,
sweetly in tune, infinitely variegated” and “delicious”. Her solo recordings on the
Crystal and Neuma labels have been critically acclaimed.
Ms. Rodland studied on full scholarship with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School and
as a Fulbright Scholar with Kim Kashkashian at the Musikhochschule Freiburg. She
has held professorships at New England Conservatory, where she was recognized in
2005 with the “Krasner Award for Excellence in Teaching”, at the Musikhochschule
“Hanns Eisler” Berlin, at Arizona State University, and as guest faculty at the
Juilliard School. In 2008 she was appointed to a tenured professorship at the
Eastman School of Music. She is also on the faculties of the Bowdoin International
Music Festival, California Summer Music, the Karen Tuttle Coordination Workshop,
and the Perlman Music Program’s Sarasota Residency.
Ms. Rodland is the founder and artistic director of the benefit concert series “If
Music Be the Food...”, launched in 2009 to increase awareness and support for the
hungry. This concert series has inspired other prominent musical institutions in the
US to implement initiatives based on this concept in their own communities.
Tracy Rowell
Bassist, Tracy Rowell is an active performer and teacher in the Cleveland area. She
teaches at the University of Akron and for the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies at the
Cleveland Institute of Music. She has been a guest clinician and recitalist at bass
workshops such as George Vance’s Summer Bass Workshop and the Kansas City
Bass Workshop, and in summer 2012 she will be on the faculty of the newly formed
Peabody Bass Camp. Formerly the Assistant Principal Bassist of the National Arts
Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Tracy currently serves as Principal Bass for
Citymusic Cleveland. Ms. Rowell has also performed with orchestras such as the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony,
and Carmel Bach Festival. She may be heard as a soloist on Telemann’s GrillenSimphonie with Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra (“Don Quixote”, Koch
Intl recording). As a chamber musician, Ms. Rowell has collaborated with musicians
from the Cavani, St. Lawrence, Pacifica, and Parker string quartets. She received
fellowships from the Aspen Music Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Sir
George Solti Orchestral Project at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Rowell studied with Paul Ellison
at Rice University, and she received her Masters degree from Boston University as a
student of Edwin Barker. Currently Tracy leads a busy life in Cleveland Heights with
her her husband, Henry Peyrebrune, and their family.
25
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
David Schoenbaum
David Schoenbaum is a professional historian and amateur violinist, whose latest
book, “The Violin: A Social History of the World’s Most Versatile Instrument” will
appear in December. He has meanwhile written about the violin and things violinistic
for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Wall Street
Journal, The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, National Public Radio, Strings and The
Strad.
During his school days he studied for a year with Florizel von Reuter, an exponent
of Paganini and enthusiastic spiritualist, who played as a child prodigy for President
McKinley. During college he lived in the shadow of Rudolf Kolisch, who was present
at the creation of the Second Vienna School, and whose quartet was a dedicatee of
both Schoenberg and Bartok.
For 39 years, till it was burgled from his apartment in The Hague, he happily played a
Lorenz J. Fischer, Milwaukee 1930. Since then he has just as happily played a Hart &
Son, London 1894.
Raymond Schryer
Raymond Schryer, born 1961 in Sault Ste Marie ON Canada, has been passionate
about violins for over 35 years. Raymond studied violin performance at the
University of Western Ontario and now enjoys arranging music and performing.
At the age of fourteen, Raymond studied violin making with his uncle Fernand
Schryer in Quebec for four years. At 21 Raymond earned a formal 3 year
apprenticeship from the violin shop of Geo. Heinl & Co. in Toronto. The decades
from 1992 – 2012 are filled with research, innovation and rewards. In violinmaking
competitions Raymond consistently improved his standing, winning numerous silver
and gold medals internationally. One of his proudest moments was the Gold Medal
win for Cello in October 2003 at the Triennale Internazionale in Cremona, Italy.
Raymond has been an active member and on the boards of: Entente Internationale
des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers D’Arts, and the American Federation of Violin and
Bow Makers. He has served on the jury panel for several international violinmaking
competitions. Raymond has enjoyed the opportunity to teach at violin making
schools, conferences and workshops worldwide.
At the Oberlin Workshop Raymond and his colleagues collaborate and apply new
technologies to the art of violin making. Publishing articles and research projects
have benefited his career by sharing with other makers worldwide. Raymond Schryer
is a recognized leader and innovator in his field.
Arian Sheets
Arian Sheets is Curator of Stringed Instruments at the National Music Museum on
the campus of the University of South Dakota. Her research interests are diverse,
including everything from the work of Andrea Amati to the early development of
electric musical instruments. She particularly enjoys assisting others with using the
Museum’s world-class collections for their own research activities.
26
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
Anne St. John
Anne is a Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Branch of CITES
Operations, Division of Management Authority based in Arlington, VA. Her focus will
be on CITES and the International Trade in Timber and Timber Products.
Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor built his first guitar at the age of 16 and co-founded Taylor Guitars in 1974,
at the age of 19. This year, in 2012 alone, Taylor Guitars will build 160,000 guitars,
each guitar using ebony for its fingerboard and bridge. This level of wood usage has
helped Bob to become an expert at wood sourcing and processing.
In an effort to insure legal and ethical wood sources, Taylor Guitars partnered with
Spanish international wood supplier, Madinter Trade, in a 50/50 partnership to cut
ebony in Cameroon. This company is called Crelicam and is arguably the largest legal
producer of ebony in the world. With 100 employees, Crelicam cuts enough ebony to
supply a very large client base of both guitar and violin builders and factories.
Ariane Todes
Ariane Todes has been editor of The Strad magazine since 2006. Following an MA in
Philosophy from Edinburgh University she studied the violin at the Royal Academy
of Music. After graduating with an LRAM she worked in various classical music
marketing positions and in a branding consultancy, before joining Choir & Organ
magazine and then The Strad, in 2002.
Ariane plays chamber music with friends on a regular basis and is a member of
Kensington Symphony Orchestra. Her Sephardic-flamenco band, Los Desterrados,
performs regularly in the UK and has just produced its fourth album, Dos Amantes.
She once spent a week learning to make a violin, but subsequently decided to leave
lutherie to the experts.
Marilyn Wallin
Marilyn J. Wallin has made many instruments, winning three Silver Medals and
11 Certificates of Merit in both the Workmanship and Tone categories in VSA
International Competitions. She has served on the Board of Directors of the
VSA for 12 years and is a Past-President. Wallin maintains an active studio in the
Emerson Umbrella, Center for the Arts in historic Concord, MA, where she is an
Artist In Residence practicing her craft, and teaching professionals and enthusiastic
amateurs. Her distinguished background includes being the director of the
violinmaking program at North Bennet Street School in Boston; a lecturer for the
VSA; a contributor to Strings Magazine; instructor and participant at the VSAOberlin Workshop programs; an officer and Governor of the AFVBM; a restorer at
Bein & Fushi Rare Violins.
Marilyn was a student of Tschu Ho Lee and a graduate from the Chicago School of
Violin Making. In addition she graduated from the University of Iowa, having earned
a Bachelors of Music in Applied Viola. She serves at VSA conventions as co-organizer
of the Violin maker’s Forum, lecturer, and on-going host of the award-winning Tone
Awards demonstrations.
27
Speakers’ & Judges’ Biographies
James A. Warren
James A. Warren is President of Kenneth Warren & Son, Ltd. of Chicago. A graduate
of the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. degree in Business Administration, he
joined the Warren firm in 1975. He was actively involved in forming the Kenneth
Warren & Son School of Violin Making in 1975 (now the Chicago School of Violin
Making) and served as its President from 1976-1982. A member of the Appraisers
Association of America, he serves as his firm’s expert for matters of authenticity.
He has sponsored a number of research projects on historic violin makers and is
involved in a project to co-author a book about bow maker Francois Xavier Tourte.
Jim also serves on the Board of Directors of the VSA.
Luisa Willsher
Luisa Willsher was born and raised in England, and has resided in Spain for nearly
16 years. Her love of flamenco music allowed her to learn about Spanish guitars. In
the year 2001 she joined Spanish wood supplier, Madinter Trade, selling wood and
eventually gaining partial ownership of the company.
Luisa sells instrument woods world-around, to hundreds of clients in many countries.
Her clients include builders who work alone, as well as the largest factories in the
industry. She is an expert on the countries of origin for all species, the local laws that
govern the trade in those timbers, and the international laws that must be satisfied
for successful trade.
Together with Taylor Guitars, Luisa and Madinter Trade are able to effectively
produce and sell ebony for musical instruments in a manner that respects the
forests, the country’s people, and the law.
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Praised in The New York Times as having “everything one wants in a quartet: a
rich, precisely balanced sound, a broad coloristic palette, real unity of interpretive
purpose and seemingly unflagging energy,” the Miami String Quartet has established
its place among the most widely respected quartets in America. For over twenty
years, their diversity in programming, poise in performance, keen sense of ensemble
and impeccable musicality has made the Miami String Quartet one of the most
sought after quartets in chamber music today. They have appeared extensively
throughout the United States and Europe.
Winners of the 2000 Cleveland Quartet Award presented by Chamber Music
America, and Chamber Music Society Two ensemble of the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center from 1999-2001, the Miami String Quartet has been in residence
at Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University since 2004. They were
Quartet in Residence at the Hartt School in Hartford, from 2003 to 2009. Other
previous residencies include Florida International University and the New World
School of the Arts in Miami, where the group was founded in 1988.
In 1992, the Miami String Quartet became the first string quartet in a decade to win
First Prize of the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition. The Miami String
Quartet has also won recognition in competitions throughout the world; as laureate
of the 1993 Evian Competition, 1991 London String Quartet Competition, and as the
1989 Grand Prize Winner of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The Miami
Quartet has commissioned and premiered works from (Bruce) Adolphe to (Ellen
Taaffe Zwilich). The quartet has served as resident ensemble at the Kent/Blossom
Music Festival, and has appeared at Chamber Music Northwest, Mostly Mozart, Music
from Angel fire, the Virginia Arts Festival, and the festivals of La Jolla, Brevard, and
Santa Fe. They have recorded music of Faure, Saint-Saens, Ginastera, and Vasks;
their next recording project will be devoted to the music of Joan Tower.
34
Jeremy Kittel
BAND
Currently touring internationally with his name-sake group, the Jeremy Kittel Band,
he leads audiences into exciting new-acoustic music territory. He also maintains
an active schedule of collaborations with some of today’s most innovative and
influential artists, from genres diverse as folk, jazz, classical, and pop music.
Recently completing a five-year position as a full-time member of the Grammywinning Turtle Island Quartet, he has also toured and recorded with such musical
giants as Mark O’Connor, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Paquito D’Rivera, the
Assad Brothers, Stefon Harris, My Morning Jacket, Jars of Clay, Abigail Washburn,
and Ben Sollee. He has appeared on the NPR radio show A Prairie Home Companion,
has been a guest performer with multiple symphony orchestras, and has performed
at venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Bonnaroo, and the
Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
His most recent solo recording, Chasing Sparks (Compass Records), clearly
establishes Jeremy as a formidable composer and arranger as well as a violinist of
the highest technical and musical sensibilities. This comes as no surprise given that
his three previously released CDs span the musical spectrum from jazz to celtic, with
a strong dose of originality and technical mastery.
One of the leading improvising violinists of his generation, Jeremy has a master’s
degree in jazz violin from the Manhattan School of Music, and he is the recipient of
the 2010 Emerging Artist Award from his alma mater, the University of Michigan. He
is also a National US Scottish Fiddle champion as well as a multiple winner of Detroit
Music Awards and ASTA Alternative Style awards.
As a lover of song, and as a singer himself, Kittel enjoys collaborating with
singers and lyricists from any genre. Most recently, he has arranged and recorded
orchestral-style strings for several major-label releases: Abigail Washburn’s “City of
Refuge,” My Morning Jacket’s “Circuital,” and an upcoming release by the Platinumselling, Grammy-winning band Jars of Clay.
35
Meints Gambas
Catharina Meints has had a distinguished career
performing on cello, viola da gamba and baroque
cello. Retired after thirty-five years in the Cleveland
Orchestra she has been teaching at Oberlin as
associate professor of those instruments. Active as
a chamber music and solo performer, she has made
over two-dozen recordings with a variety of groups.
Her husband, James Caldwell, and she started the
Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin, which
just celebrated its fortieth year. Over many years
they also formed an important collection of antique
viols and cellos, which she had chronicled in the
recently published “The Caldwell Collection of
Viols-a life together in the pursuit of beauty.”
The Caldwell Collection Consort of Viols
Pavan “The Cradle
Galliard “The Fairie-round”
Almaine “The Honie-suckle”
Anthony Holborne
Two Fantasies
John Ward
Trio
In Nomine
Orlando Gibbons
Pavan and Galiard
John Jenkins
Duet from “Nymphs of the Rhine
Johann Schenk
Les Folies D’Espana
Marin Marais
Catharina Meints treble and bassAnonymous French c.1700 and Nicolas
Bertrand, Paris c. 1720
Kate Shuldiner treble
William Turner, London 1652
David Ellis tenor and bassAnonymous Brussels c. 1750? and Jean- Nicolas
Lambert, Paris c.174 0
Alexa Ciceretti bass Rose? 1584 and Joachim Tielke Hamburg c.1685
Eric Tinkerhess bassJohn Rose London c.1600 and Jochim Tielke,
Hamburg 1691
36
The
Violin Society
Of AmerICa
2012 40th Annual Convention & 20th International Competition
November 11-16, 2012 • Renaissance Cleveland Hotel • Cleveland, Ohio
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Noon - 6:00 PM
Exhibit Registration - Exhibit Hall
3:00 - 6:00 PM
Registration - Main Coat Check Lobby
3:00 - 10:00 PMCompetition Registration
Gold/Whitehall Room Coat-Check Desk
6:30 - 7:30 PMWelcome Reception - Ambassador Room
Graciously hosted by Heritage Insurance Company,
Mondomusica New York and Tarisio Auction, Inc.
8:00 - 10:00 PM
Judge’s Meeting - Superior Room
37
Monday, November 12, 2012
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Registration - Main Coat Check Lobby
8:00 AM - 5:00 PMCompetition Judging - Gold/Whitehall
Not open to the public
9:00 AM - 4:00 PMStudy Exhibit - Carnegie Boardroom
Attendees must purchase $5 timed tickets at the
Registration Desk to view this exhibit.
9:00 AM - 5:30 PMVendor Exhibits - Exhibit Hall
Closed for lunch: Noon - 1:30 PM
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen Exhibit
Rockefeller Board Room
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Innovations/ Hors’ Concours - Severance Room
9:00 - 10:00 AMVarnishing - Grand Ballroom B
Antoine Nedelec & Jeff Phillips
10:00 - 11:00 AMInnovations in Bow Making from Baroque to Modern Grand Ballroom B
David Hawthorne
11:00 - NoonMarketing - Grand Ballroom B
Ariane Todes, Editor of Strad Magazine
Noon - 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 PMLibrem Segreti de Buttegha: Book of Workshop Secrets Grand Ballroom B
Andrew Dipper
2:30 - 3:30 PMThe Caldwell Collection of Viols - Grand Ballroom B
Catharina Meints-Caldwell
3:30 - 4:40 PMHistorical Relevance of the Meints Gamba Collection
Grand Ballroom B
William Monical
Thursday night Banquet tickets cannot be sold after 5:00 PM today, so
be sure to purchase yours in advance at the Registration Desk, Exhibit
Registration Desk, or Competition Registration Desk.
8:00 PMConcert: Meints Gambas - Ambassador Room
Cathy Meints-Caldwell and Oberlin Conservatory Students
38
Tuesday , November 13, 2012
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Registration - Main Coat Check Lobby
8:00 AM - 5:00 PMCompetition Judging - Gold/Whitehall
Not open to the public
9:00 AM - 4:00 PMStudy Exhibit - Carnegie Boardroom
Attendees must purchase $5 timed tickets at the
Registration Desk to view this exhibit.
9:00 AM - 5:30 PMVendor Exhibits - Exhibit Hall
Closed for lunch: Noon - 1:30 PM
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen Exhibit
Rockefeller Board Room
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Innovations/ Hors’ Concours - Severance Room
9:00 - 11:00 AM
Maker’s Forum - Grand Ballroom A
11:00 AM - Noon
Optics for Luthiers - Grand Ballroom B
Michael Molnar
Noon - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Origins & Culture of Vogtländ Violin Making
Grand Ballroom B
Arian Sheets, American Music Museum
2:30 - 3:30 PM
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen Panel Discussion
Grand Ballroom B
Arian Sheets, Klaus Grünke and Ed Ball
3:30 - 4:30 PM
How to Recognize French Bows of the 19th Century
Grand Ballroom B
Yannick le Canu
5:30 - 7:30 PM
Board of Directors Dinner & Meeting - Carnegie Board Room
8:00 PM
Concert: Miami String Quartet - Ambassador Ballroom
Bring Your Banquet Tickets to the
Thursday Competition Awards Banquet.
Your name badge will not provide admittance
and tickets will not be sold at the door.
39
Wednesday , November 14, 2012
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Registration - Main Coat Check Lobby
8:00 AM - 5:00 PMCompetition Judging - Gold/Whitehall
Not open to the public
9:00 AM - 4:00 PMStudy Exhibit - Carnegie Boardroom
Attendees must purchase $5 timed tickets at the
Registration Desk to view this exhibit.
9:00 AM - 5:30 PMVendor Exhibits - Exhibit Hall
Closed for lunch: Noon - 1:30 PM
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen Exhibit
Rockefeller Board Room
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Innovations/ Hors’ Concours - Severance Room
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM For Love or Money: Thoughts on the History of the Violin
Grand Ballroom B
David Schoenbaum
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM The Bows of Nikolai Kittel - Grand Ballroom B
Yung Chin & Klaus Grünke
Noon - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Study Exhibit: Panel of Experts - Grand Ballroom B
Jim Warren, Chris Reuning & Jeff Holmes
2:30 - 4:00 PM
Baroque Instrument Construction - Grand Ballroom B
Roger Hargrave
4:00 - 4:30 PM
Koen Padding Memorial - Grand Ballroom B
Following Roger Hargrave’s lecture.
Evening On Your Own!
Bring Your Banquet Tickets to the
Thursday Competition Awards Banquet.
Your name badge will not provide admittance
and tickets will not be sold at the door.
40
Thursday , November 15, 2012
9:00 - 11:30 AM
Live Scholarship Auction! - Ballroom A
David Bonsey, Auctioneer
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Auction Cash Out - Ballroom A
Noon - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 - 4:00 PM
Registration - Main Coat Check Lobby
1:30 - 5:30 PMVendor Exhibits - Exhibit Hall
Closed for lunch: Noon - 1:30 PM
1:30 - 5:00 PM
Musikwinkel Around Markneukirchen Exhibit
Rockefeller Board Room
1:30 - 5:00 PM
Innovations/ Hors’ Concours - Severance Room
1:30 - 3:30 PMGovernment Regulation and Enforcement for Instruments
and Bows of the Violin Family - Grand Ballroom B
Lacey Act Requirements for Plants and Plant Products
Gary Lougee, US Dept. Agriculture; Lacey Act Officer
CITES and the International Trade in Timber and Timber
Products
Anne St. John, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Branch of CITES
Operations
To Be Followed By Q&A Session
3:30 - 4:30 PMEbony Project & the Endangered Species Act
Grand Ballroom B
Bob Taylor, Taylor Guitars
Luisa Willsher, Madinter Trade
6:00-9:00 PM
Awards Banquet - Grand Ballrooms A & B
Competition room opens after Awards Banquet until midnight
Bring Your Banquet Tickets to the
Thursday Competition Awards Banquet.
Your name badge will not provide admittance
and tickets will not be sold at the door.
41
Friday , November 16, 2012
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Registration - Main Coat Check Lobby
8:00 AM - 11:00 PM Competition Room - Gold/Whitehall Room
Free Student Admission with current ID.
9:00 AM - Noon
Vendors Exhibits - Exhibit Hall
9:00 AM - Noon
Innovations/Hors’ Concours - Severance Room
9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Instrument & Bow Critiques - Gold/Whitehall Room
Closed for lunch: Noon - 1:30 PM
Sign up sheets available
9:30 AM - 10:30Playing of the Award Winning Instruments by Tone Judges
Grand Ballroom B
10:30-11:45 AM
VSA Biennial Business Meeting - Grand Ballroom B
Noon - 1:00 PM
New Board of Directors’ Meeting - Carnegie Board Room
Noon - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30-2:30 PM
CAS Forum - Severance Room
2:30-3:30 PM
Bass Forum - Grand Ballroom B
Jay vandeKopple
3:30-4:30 PM
Preparing for Your Next Competition - Grand Ballroom B
Past Judges & Medal Winners
8:00 PM
Concert: Jeremy Kittel Band - Ambassador Ballroom
11:00 PM - Midnight Instrument Pick Up
Instruments and bows may be picked up without penalty
on Friday evening, Nov. 16, between 11:00 PM and Midnight.
There is a $75 early removal fee for each instrument
picked up before ll:00 PM Nov. 16.
Mandatory pick up Saturday morning, Nov 17, between
8:00 AM and Noon.
Saturday , November 16, 2012
8:00 AM - Noon
Instrument & Bow Check Out
42
VSA Hors’ Concours Members
A special exhibit of work by VSA’s Hors’ Concours members, will be shown at this
meeting. Hors’ Concours members are those who have won at least one Gold Medal
in each of three separate competitions. Fan Tao has organized the work of these
talented makers:
Gregg Alf
Morgan Andersen
David Burgess
Edward Campbell
Thomas Croen
Jose Dacunha
David Folland
Pierre-Yves Fuchs
Joseph Grubaugh
David Gusset
Amos Hargrave
Chang Heyern Jin
Reid Kowallis
Joseph Kun
Francis Kuttner
Yannic Le Canu
Rodney Mohr
Robert Morrow
Roy Quade
Frank Ravatin
David Samuels
William Scott
Sigrun Seifert
Paul Siefried
Randy Steenburgen
Gregor Walbrot
Matthew Wehling
Paul Wiessmeyer
VSA-Oberlin 2013 Summer Workshops
Bow Restoration
June 30 – July 6, 2013
Description: Techniques of bow repair
and restoration.
Contact: Jerry Pasewicz, 919-858-0429, bowrestoration@tristrings.com
Acoustics June 16 – June 22, 2013
Description: The acoustics workshop
brings researchers and violin
makers together for a week of talks,
presentations, and experiments.
Contact: Fan Tao, 631-439 3270, Fan.Tao@daddario.com
Violin Restoration
June 30 – July 6, 2013
Description: The violin restoration
workshop brings in a rotating group of
the world’s top violin restorers.
Contact: Jeffrey Holmes, 734-668-6745,
holmesviolins@gmail.com
Violin Making
June 16 – June 29, 2013
Description: Graduate level, with
students and teachers sharing
expertise and new developments.
Contact: Chris Germain, 215-545 2500,
info@germainviolins.com
General Information
Anna Hoffmann,
Oberlin Program Office
440-775-8044
anna.hoffmann@oberlin.edu
For the latest information, see
www.vsaweb.org
Bow Making June 16 – June 29, 2013
Description: For experienced bow
makers to share techniques and
expertise.
Contact: David Forbes, 352-375 2609, forbows@bellsouth.net
43
Plan Now to Attend our
Upcoming Conventions
2013
VSA 41st Annual Convention
November 6-9. 2013
Crowne Plaza Timonium
Baltimore, Maryland
2014
VSA 42nd Annual Convention &
21st International Competition
International Violin Festival:
An IVCI and VSA Partnership
September 14-21, 2014
Hyatt Regency
Indianapolis, Indiana
ee !
S
l
l
’
We u There
Yo
Taking it as our priority to create values for customers
Responsible attitude is the foundation of all our works
SERVING THE EASTERN COAST SINCE 2002
Fully handmade cello with a well
graduated solid spruce top, nicely
flamed maple back, sides and neck,
ebony fingerboard, pegs, hand applied slightly antique style varnish.
Excellent playability, mellow tone, and
dynamic projection
$570 incl Helicorfe string set up & free shipping

We offering you more than an instrument
Our violin/viola instruments are 100% hand crafted with selected aged tone wood in our shop in Beijing with inlaid purfling,
ebony fingerboard, chin rest, pegs, slightly flamed maple sides,
back and neck. , it offers a projective smooth warm tone
$175 incl Dominant string set up & free shipping
Germantown Violin Company LLC
7800 Airpark Rd. Unit 17, Gaithersburg, MD 20879
Ph: 301-977-5637
Fax: 301-977-5429
Web: www.germantownviolincompany.com
Email: sean.liang.gvc@hotmail.com
2012 Commercial Exhibitors
Alpentonholz Pahler
Andreas Pahler
+491625633926
pahlera@yahoo.com
Bogardo & Clemente
Clemente Vittorio
0039 0481-485161
info@bcbows.com
Searching for best sounding maple and
spruce is not only a challenging task but
our passion. Just add strings!
Production and repair of accessories for
stringed instruments and cases.
BowWorks/Paulus GMBH
Steve Beckley, Meryl Courtice
Beckley
707-937-0570
steve@bowworks.com
Amati’s Fine Instruments
Amanda Brock, Jacqueline Schear
513-293-2532
amatis@me.com
Angels Musical Instruments, Inc.
Ji Suo Xue, Zhennian Wang, Zhenxia
Wang
626-969-8800
ami@angelstrings.com
Wholesale manufacturer in new and oldfashioned bowed string instruments or
violins, violas and cellos as well as the
related cases. The instruments provided
are from entry level to professional.
Largest line of frogs and buttons. Custom
work on request. Bow hair and complete
line of supplies for bow makers and repair.
Century Strings, Inc.
Alex Fan, Ling Yan
909-548-0845
info@centurystrings.com
Stringed instruments, bows, cases and
accessories.
Arcos Brasil USA
Vito Vissicaro, Michael Sudrovech,
Jeff Williams, Celso DeMello
480-967-5227
Dorothy@arcosbrasil.com
Classic Violins
Petio Kostov,
Mrs. Antoaneta Kostova
847-970-3797
info@classicviolins.com
Violins, Violas, Cellos, Pernambuco
Bows, Carbon Fiber Bows, Rosin and
Accessories.
Dealers in fine violins, violas, cellos and
accessories for them.
Cleveland Violins
Yanbing Chen, Peter Lekx
216-659-5356
info@clevelandviolins.com
Bachmann Guitars & Tonewood
Teresa Bachmann
+0039 0474492349
info@bachmann-tonewood.com
Tonewood for stringed instruments
SPRUCE from the high “Dolomite” of
North Italy/South Tirol and MAPLE from
Bosnia.
Yi Chen violins, violas, cellos, tools and
accessories. Bow hair.
47
2012 Commercial Exhibitors
Connolly Music Company
Rich McKenzie, Lance Rohrecker,
Mike Zucek, Kevin Reynolds,
Berno Dimbath
800-644-5268
info@connollymusic.com
European Tonewoods
Stanisa Surbatovich, Milan Djurisic
+382 69 087 531
stan.surbatovich@gmail.com
High quality Montenegrin and Bosnian
Maple and Spruce.
Sales, marketing and distribution specialists,
Connolly Music Company is dedicated to
connecting manufacturers, resellers, and
the devoted community of musicians they
serve. www.connollymusic.com
Cremona Violin Store & Workshop SRL
+390372801161
info@cremonaviolinstore.com
Antique and
instruments.
contemporary
stringed
D’Addario
Lyris Hung, Fan Tao
631-439-3300 (1-800-DADARIO)
info@daddariobowed.com
D’Addario manufactures fine instrument
strings and accessories, serving the
needs of professional performers and
student musicians alike. D’Addario has
been crafting musical instrument strings
in the U.S. since 1905.
Eastman Strings, Inc.
Ruben Salazar, Gary Yu, Qian Ni
800-789-2216
isalazar@eastmanstrings.com
Eastman Strings supplies students, teachers,
and professionals with fine orchestral
string instruments. Talented craftspeople,
guided by master luthiers, handcraft each
instrument from superior aged tonewoods;
following the Master’s style.
Ergovio Slobodyrev
Aleksey Slobodyrev
+49-5164-800988
info@ergovio.com
Gatchell Violins Company
Allen Gatchell, Stephen Crisafulli
321-733-1499
steve@gatchellviolins.com
For over ten years, Gatchel violins
has consistently provided fine quality
European and Asian violins, violas,
cellos, basses, bows and accessories to
our network of dealers at fantastic price
points.
Germantown Violin Company LLC
Sean Liang, Lance Liang,
Carl Krause
301-977-5637
dswviolins@aol.com
Stringed instruments wholesale.
Hagen Weise Violins
Hagen Weise
+49 9131 974552
info@weise-violins.de
German-made high quality violins, violas
and cellos for students up to professional
players, made by Geigenbaumeister
Hagen Weise and his team.
Helmut Ulrich
+49 8823 35855370
Violin maker Helmut Ulrich has found
special woods to build his instruments.
With these woods, he creates a new
sound, strange, sweet is the title. He says,
“Open up your ears!”
Fine quality accessories.
48
2012 Commercial Exhibitors
Heritage Insurance Services, Inc.
1-800-289-8837
info@musicins.com
Specialized insurance programs for violin
dealers and makers.
L’Archet Brasil
Jorge Monteiro, Atila De Freitas
561-790-4191
info@larchetbrasil.com
Bows, tonewood.
Holfter GmbH
Ulrich Holfter, Andreas Jacobi
011-49-2402-126540
info@holfter.com
Metropolitan Music
Adam Juzek, Rob Juzek, Ed Minyo
802-253-4814
sales@metmusic.com
Milo Stamm bridges, Reference Books,
Inlay Technique for the restoration of
string instruments.
Established in 1920. Manufacturer,
importer, exporter. Wholesaler of
stringed instruments, cases, bows,
accessories, strings, luthier’s tools, and
fine tonewoods. Exclusive distributor of
Juzek and E. Wilfer violins, violas, cellos,
and basses.
Horst John Brazil Bows
Jacy Sousa
55-27-3276-1129
jacy@horstjohn.com
MIGMA eG, MusikinstrumentenHandwerker-Genossenschaft
Markneukirchen
0049 37422 2341
info@migma-eg.de
Handmade Pernambuco bows.
Howard Core Company, LLC
Tim Fisher, David Luce,
Jane Blackerby, Alex Weidner, Norm
Dennis, Jamie Garrison, Dee Ann
Fleming, Hans Anderson
800-633-2302
info@howardcore.com
String Instruments, bows for String
Instruments, Cases for String
Instruments and bows Ingredients.
Wholesale supplier of ALL products
related to stringed instruments including
accessories, cases, parts, tonewood, tools,
finishing products, and books. Exclusive
Distributor – Bobelock Cases, Gewa
Cases, Old Wood Finishing Products.
Ifshin Violins
Jay Ifshin, Haide Lin, Richard Ward
510-843-5466
rich@ifshinviolins.com
The Jay Haide violins, violas, cellos and
basses.
International Violin Co.
Ken Wise, Denny Wise, Lori Kirr
1-800-542-3538
lkirr@internationalviolin.com
Mondomusica New York
Susan Carmichael, Claire Stefani
212-391-6602
info@mondomusicanewyork.com
Mondomusica New York is a new
exhibition where violin-making tradition,
world-leading contemporary instrument
makers and business opportunities meet.
It will take place on March 15-17, 2013. Vist
www.mondomusicanewyork.com
Monsterballvise®
(corporate name: Semmel
Enterprises Inc.)
John Olson, Charlotte Wiebe
402-730-4590
semmelentyp@aol.com
The family of Monsterballvise® products.
49
2012 Commercial Exhibitors
Musaica Imports, LLC
Alexander Ross, Alan Petermann,
Dirk Henry, Chris Jacoby
402-827-9270
acvsales@gmail.com
Peter Zaret and Sons, Violins
Edward Zaret
440-461-1411
pzaret@roadrunner.com
Instruments, fittings, tonewoods
Our patented bass bar and our new method
to rehair a bow in one minute or less.
NetRehair.com
Clayton Heuer, Elizabeth Marshall
919-858-0429
info@tristrings.com
Pioneer Luthier Supply
Eric Husemoller, Alison Sinkler
413-586-1800
eh@brushhair.com
A premium rehair service for discriminating
musicians.
Supplier of platinum live and coarse
bowhair.
Nova Strings
Kentaro Yamamoto, Xia Jin,
Gordon Roberts, Tony Stogner
240-631-1955
groberts@novastrings.com
Regh Violins
Joseph Regh
845-297-2521
reghj@aol.com
Orchestral string accessory supplier,
distributor of Musilia cases, Pedicases,
Arcus Bow and Headway Pickups.
Old World Tonewood Company
John Preston, Catalin Murgoci
304-654-2308
sales@oldworldtonewood.com
Books, bows,
courses.
bow-making
materials,
Savarez/Aubert Lutherie
Philippe Durand
+33 437 403200
contact@savarez.fr
Strings for musical instruments.
Producers of fine spruce and maple
tonewood
from
the
Carpathian
Mountains.
Oliver Musica, USA, Inc.
David Cheng, Diana Liu
714-632-5959
oliver@olivermusic.com
Manufacturer and Wholesale Distributor
of Everest Shoulder Rests and other
String Instrument Accessories.
Otto Musica Corporation
Bill Wong, Tom Lai
267-684-6565
sales@ottomusica.com
Distributor of VN, VA, VC and accessories.
Brand Name: Otto, Muco, Artino
Aubert Lutherie
+33 3 2937 0613
alutherie@aol.com
Bridges
Scott Cao Violins, Inc.
Scott Cao, Kitty Liao, Shi Jin Chen,
Zhong Qiu Chang
408-378-3665
sales@scottcaoviolins.com
Scrollavezza & Zanre
Andrea Zanre, Elisa Scrollavezza
+39 0521 207034
info@scrollavezza-zaare.com
Volume “Johannes Baptista Guadagaini
Fecit Parmae Servieas C.S.R. –
Masterpieces From the 2011 Parma
Exhibition”
50
2012 Commercial Exhibitors
Shar Products Company
800-248-SHAR
violinshop@sharmusic.com
Serving string musicians since 1962 with
violin-family instruments of all levels,
bows, strings, cases, repair, restoration,
and consignment services.
Tone Rite
Erwin Felicilda, Valerie Sheehan,
Davian Payan, Andrew Solomon,
Rachel Silver
813-444-TONE
info@tonerite.com
Tone Wood International SRL
Giovanni Colonna, Bernard Morales
+39-037-801854
Snow Stringed Instruments
Jack Hu, Sophie Chen
718-353-7402
snowviolin@yahoo.com
Wood and
instruments.
Our company is an international
wholesale business specializing in quality
violins, violas, and cellos.
Timberwood Industries, Inc.
Herb Rudolph, Rhodie Rudolph
914-533-2020
tbrwood@aol.com
accessories
for
string
Tong’s Violin Shop
317-733-8598
cello@indy.rr.com
Violin, Viola, Cell, Bass, Wholesale.
Violin Varnish Ltd.
Joe Robson, John Novak
607-387-9280
order@violinvarnish.com
Fine Tonewood – Books on Music –
Modern Italian Violins.
Varnish, Color and Grounds handmade
for the violin. Workshop: Practical &
Aesthetic Violin Varnishing
The Strad Magazine
Ariane Todes, Editor
Tel: 011 44 20 7618 3065
Email: ariane.todes@thestrad.com
www.thestrad.com
The voice of string music world since
May 1890. International monthly print
magazine with additional specialist
publications and multi-digital platforms,
representing an essential reading source
for everyone within the market for strings
instruments played by a bow. The Strad
continues to have a dedicated audience
of makers, dealers, players, teachers and
students worldwide.
William McKee Wisehart
Musikinstrumente
William McKee Wisehart, David Berg
+49 9131-20-2865
wmw.wisehart@t-online
Direct from Bubenreuth, Germany:
stringed instruments, bows, pegs,
tailpieces, bridges, fingerboards, etc.
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Rules For Safe Handling of Exhibited Instruments and Bows
The Board of Directors of the Violin Society of America has been glad to offer
unlimited access for members and guests to the instruments and bows displayed in
competition and exhibits of the past 31 years. Please take a moment to look at these
rules for the safe handling and protection of the instruments and bows.
For the safety of the instruments and bows, the following rules apply to all persons
at all times in the competition and the exhibition rooms:
• No Cameras, Cellphone Cameras, or Recording Equipment
• No Rulers, Calipers, or Other Measuring Devices
• No Coats, Large Bags, Backpacks, or Umbrellas
• No Cases
• No Food or Drink
Each visitor must have a proper convention name badge for admittance. Competition
and Exhibition bows may not be used to play instruments. Bows for this purpose
have been generously loaned, and are available in each room. No Exceptions will be
made!
Please handle objects carefully, bearing in mind the following suggested practices:
• Hold each instrument by the neck, each bow by the frog.
• Do not touch the varnish on the instruments, or the hair on the bows.
• Hold objects over the table when viewing.
• Return objects to the table at the original position or number.
• Set each instrument or bow back on the table, allowing the next interested viewer
to pick it up himself or herself.
• Carefully inspect shoulder pads prior to use, in order to prevent scratches.
If you notice a problem, such as a broken string or someone using a camera, please
contact a guard or a member of the Board of Directors. Your cooperation ensures
the safety of the instruments and bows and the continuation of access in the future.
The Violin Society of America
wishes to thank the 2012 Host Shop
Yanbing Chen and
Cleveland Violins
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VSA Would Like to Thank
Our Sponsors
Corporate
Virtuoso Level
Heritage Insurance Company
Mondomusica New York
Tarisio Auction, Inc.
VSA Convention Bags Sponsored by Gatchell Violins, Inc.
Venetian Level
D’Addario & Company
Howard Core Company, LLC
Scott Cao Violins, Inc.
Brescian Level
Claire Givens Violins
Neapolitan Level
Chiun-Teng Cheng Rare Violins Co., LTD.
Southern Violin Association
Individual
Benefactor $500+
Fan Tao
Protect Your
Treasures In Style.
Concord® provides high quality instrument and bow cases at exceptional values. All
the cases are built with a strong wood veneer shell with an arched top to protect
the instruments. We provide simple to artistically elegant designed cases, offered
in a variety of colors, that each comprised of top-quality materials and hardware.
Features include water-resistant Cordura cover, suspension system, multiple handles
and back-pack design for easy daily use.
CONCORD
INTERNATIONAL
GROUP, INC.
2380 Vantage Drive, Elgin, IL 60124 USA · Tel: 847-836-8688
www.concordgroup.com · info@concordgroup.com
NOTES
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NOTES
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A new, not-for-profit organization, promoting the art and science of making and
repairing violin family instruments and their bows. Open to all but formed
specifically for luthiers in the Southeastern USA, the Association will hold
makers’ competitions, and will sponsor meetings and assemblies of violin
experts, makers, and players to share knowledge and good times together.
For more information about membership:
www.SouthernViolinAssociation.com
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