Violinist.com

For the Record, Op. 387: Curtis Stewart, Paul Huang, Mark Kaplan, Marc Sabbah

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:57:31 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

Violinist Curtis Stewart. Photo courtesy of the artist.

24 American Caprices Curtis Stewart, violin

Korngold & Barber Paul Huang, violin London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jun M�rkl conducting

Brahms Violin Sonatas Mark Kaplan, violin David Kaplan, piano

Bach 6 Suites on the Viola Marc Sabbah, viola

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes. You might also like:

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Violin Master Class with David Halen at Sounding Point Academy

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 19:24:16 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Success comes about when you set your own standards at a very high level. And you don't let someone else set those standards, you set them yourself. This is what the Colburn School's celebrated violin pedagogue Robert Lipsett told 80 young violinists last week at Sounding Point Academy, Colburn's two-week high-level summer music intensive that just wrapped up over the weekend.

Robert Lipsett and David Halen.

The program attracts pre-college violinists from all around the country for lessons, master classes and more with faculty members who this year included Lipsett, Fabiola Kim, Danielle Belen, David Halen, Simon James and Eugene Watanabe. The students and faculty were gathered Friday for a master class with violinist David Halen, who shared the wisdom and experience he has gained as concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony for more than 30 years, as well as concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival. He is also Chair of Strings and Professor of Music at the University of Michigan. Lipsett's comment was inspired by something Halen said early in the master class, that as the concertmaster, "you need to be more prepared than anyone else," to know the repertoire, to practice more than anyone. Halen said that he shows up to work several hours early to prepare - "I'm there before anybody." "Did someone tell him to do that? No," Lipsett said later. "He set that standard. We always are looking at what the other guy is doing. No. Set your own standard." "High standards" are pretty much in the air at Sounding Point -- for everyone involved. Students offer polished performances at master classes, and master teachers offer ideas and suggestions that not only inspire the player, but also provide revelations for the audience. Halen certainly offered plenty of ideas, not only about being a responsible concertmaster, but also about performing in a hall, learning to play with a level of physical comfort, and more. The first student was Elise Watanabe, 15, who showed her really beautiful vibrato and high playing in the first movement of Saint-Sa�ns Concerto No. 3. "Everything Saint Sa�ns wrote was a masterpiece," Halen said, "although, has anyone played the other two violin concertos?" (Such a good question, I don't think I've ever heard his Concertos 1 or 2 myself!) Concerto No. 3 was written for the great Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, and "there is a Spanish quality to this piece," Halen said. Sarasate was famous for his beautiful tone - he was also well-dressed and well-mannered, a stately presence, Halen said. He asked everyone to imagine a bullfight, the costumes of the bullfighters, the ritual of it. Keeping these kinds of ideas in mind "will unlock a lot of this music's secrets," he told Elise.

Violinist Elise Watanabe in a master class with David Halen.

While it is common to go the Romantic route with Concerto No. 3, Halen suggested a more Classical presentation, "give it a Mendelssohn-ian approach," he said. He talked about the first entrance, marked "forte" and "appassionato" and played high on the G string.

It's easy to over-energize this. Halen said to make this entrance "stately and eloquent," to play it with reserve and poise, "not your loudest." This approach noticeably improved the sound, which had been just a little over-the-edge on her very first entrance. Holding back just a little, the sound was unforced and smooth, and it carried quite well. Halen talked about playing a concerto like this in a good concert hall; if it's a good hall, then "the hall is actually your friend." The hall will help carry your sound, "it's like playing a Strad, you don't force it." There is a passage of chords near the beginning of the first movement, and Halen emphasized that the front (the beginning) of the chord is most important.

(There's a pickup note F# before the first chord - it didn't fit!)

"If you beat up on those chords, then it doesn't resonate," Halen said. Play the front of the chord, then release. And during that release, leave your fingers down and vibrate - this also amplifies the vibrations in the hall. He also pointed out that the orchestra answers those chords, and he recommended playing them straight, in time. He did not recommend using any rubato (slowing down or speeding up). "If you do rubato on those chords and the orchestra doesn't, then it sounds silly," he said, "and if you do rubato and they imitate your rubato, then it also sounds silly." A little later, at Letter A:

The 16ths won't carry as well as the long notes, he said, so use more bow on the 16ths. And if you are using the hall to help you, "just get the front of the long note - the hall will sustain it." When it comes to the double-stop eighth notes at the end of that line, keep the elbow high and try to sing these notes, and use vibrato. "You don't have to work too hard," in that passage. He talked about keeping the muscles in the palm of the left hand as soft as possible, and using the thumb for leverage - "it allows the hand to stay free," he said. "When the hand is relaxed, it opens up the ear." And speaking of being relaxed, "you should be comfortable in every measure - you should be embarrassingly comfortable!" he said. "Whenever you are playing and it doesn't feel easy, find a way to make it feel easy." For these triplets:

Halen suggested less vibrato. Instead, he said to focus on the right hand, to add vibrato in support of the bow, "be as sweet as you can, with the bow," and to actually use bigger bows. This also worked very well to bring out a beautiful sound in that passage. "Did you feel like you worked less?" he asked Elise, and she agreed that it felt like less work. Halen also had a general suggestion for trills: "never vibrate during a trill, if you can help it," he said. He suggested stiffening the lower finger a bit, to avoid using vibrato for a trill. The next performer was Levon Taylor, 13, who impressed from the beginning with his great presence and position - head still and straight, with both hands steady and in control. He performed "Caprice Basque" by Sarasate -- a piece full of advanced techniques like double stops, harmonics, drop ricochet, fast passages, left-hand pizzicato, etc. Taylor had good control over all of it. Halen first talked about the inspiration for this piece - the Basque region - which straddles Spain and France. He encouraged students to visit Europe, to experience the people, architecture, countryside and language of the places where music such as this piece originated - "you learn so much just by being there." He talked about Basque dances - two hands raised and snapping - "there is a pride and composure in this piece." He praised Levon's rhythm and told him to add more lyricism - the sweetness that Sarasate was famous for. Halen recommended an early 1950s recording of "Caprice Basque" by Isaac Stern (check it out here.) "Isaac Stern, at the height of his powers, was one of the greatest," he said. Delaying downbeats can add elegance, as can taking care of the long notes, bringing out their singing quality. He also wanted Levon to bring out the glissandi, the many slides in the piece. "When you do a slide like that, take a half-hour!" Halen said. "Be really daring." And, make the bow as slow as the slide. This may sound greatly exaggerated under the ear, but out in the audience it is very effective.

Violinist Levon Taylor in a master class with David Halen.

During double stops, he recommended "keeping your arm activated," in other words, keeping the vibrato going. "It keeps you relaxed," he said. If you are simply vibrating the whole time, you don't have to decide when to vibrate and when not to; whereas switching the vibrato on and off might cause the hand to clutch. For spots with grace notes, Halen recommended placing grace notes very early when playing in a concert hall, otherwise people in the audience will not hear them. They did an experiment in one spot with left-hand pizzicato punctuating a legato passage: trying it super-slow, with soft legato but nice loud plucks. This sounded great - it made the passage a lot more dramatic and set it off from other parts of the piece. "The variety of tempo is what keeps this piece interesting," Halen said. Next up was Aleksi Zaretsky who had prepared some orchestral excerpts - a great chance for everyone to get a perspective on these from Halen, one of the country's most experienced concertmasters. Zaretsky had prepared two of the most common audition excerpts: Mendelssohn's "Scherzo" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Strauss's "Don Juan," but unfortunately there was time to work on only one, the "Scherzo." Zaretsky played it quite accurately, and at a nice fast clip. Halen took the opportunity to talk about both auditions and orchestra playing, in general. First, he advised everyone that each audition committee is different, comprised of the director and musician leaders in that particular orchestra. "Don't plan on winning every audition," Halen advised. Each committee will have people with their own ideas about these excerpts. He gave the example of one of his own auditions, back in the '80s, for the San Francisco Symphony. When he played the "Scherzo," the conductor Herbert Blomstedt asked for him to play the excerpt with no open Es. So there he was, changing it all on the spot. He didn't win that particular audition, but all the comments and experience that you receive from an audition are useful - "try to learn from that," he said. "When you do these auditions, you will grow incrementally from each one." For the "Scherzo" he recommended playing it "like you are the first violinist in a quartet," and "don't take it too seriously."

Violinist Aleksi Zaretsky in a master class with David Halen.

He said it's not necessary to play this excerpt super-fast. As an orchestral player, everything that you do in terms of dynamics is multiplied by 12, so it has to be tempered. A crescendo in this excerpt, for example, is more about pathos and tension than it is about volume. And here:

...each of those three dotted eighth notes should be ringing and be absolutely in tune; then drop the 16ths onto the A-string for a nice spiccato. Physically speaking, Halen said to let go of the shoulders and keep the head and neck loose. "It's amazing how a little tension gets in the way," Halen said. In all the great orchestras, you might notice that the players look downright lazy. "They are preserving their career," Halen said. "I'll play better if I'm loose, and you will, too." He offered this approach for the practice room: any time you have a slurred passage and you aren't completely happy, then try playing the passage with separate bows. And any time you have a separate-bow passage an you aren't happy, try playing it slurred. Halen had Zaretsky play a portion of this excerpt slurred, a number of times over "with a little bit of vibrato to loosen the hand," and the approach really worked. When he played it again with separate bows, it was more relaxed and accurate - it sounded great! After the master class, all the students and faculty for Sounding Point Academy posed for a picture - here they are!

Students and faculty at Sounding Point Academy 2026, at the Colburn School.

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ETSU Chamber Music Festival: Hitting Its Stride

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 22:38:50 GMT

By Diana Skinner: The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Chamber Music Festival has been on my radar for six years now, and its growth in both size and stature has been remarkable. Housed in the acoustically magical Martin Center for the Arts on ETSU�s Johnson City campus, this year�s one week festival welcomed 44 students from around the world � including graduate and undergraduate quartets from the San Francisco Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, and University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Students work with an eclectic faculty that features professional musicians from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, university professors, a youth orchestra director, and even a local Suzuki luminary. It�s a genuinely diverse mix of perspectives and experience.

Violinist Kyle Venlet works with a student ensemble.

The festival was founded by William Shaub, Knoxville Symphony�s Concertmaster, and David Kovac, ETSU violin and viola professor, both of whom remain central artistic forces. A highlight of every festival week is the faculty performance, and last night�s concert more than delivered. From Mozart to Shostakovich, the faculty concert revealed a program � and a festival � coming into its own. It opened with Mozart�s Divertimento in B flat major, K. 137, led with elegant clarity by Eva Dove. The ensemble played with tight cohesion and an easy rapport.

ETSU faculty concert.

Grieg�s Holberg Suite followed � a perennial crowd pleaser, and once again a triumph. Under the spirited leadership of Yu Fang Chen, the performance sparkled. Her energy was infectious, and her ability to launch each movement with crisp, unified precision was a marvel. The work showcased the ensemble�s lush string sound, highlighted by heartfelt cello solos and capped by a virtuosic duet between Chen and violist Joshua Ulrich. The evening concluded with the full chamber orchestra in Shostakovich�s String Quartet No. 8, arranged for string orchestra. Shaub led this tour de force with characteristic intensity, drawing out that unmistakable Shostakovich blend of pain, defiance, and fragile joy. About the festival Over the course of the week, students are placed in quartets, trios, and sextets, working on specific repertoire with faculty coaches. They also perform in a string orchestra. String players from school age through college may apply as either day students or resident campers, with skill levels ranging from intermediate to advanced. As Shaub explains, "The festival has the potential to spark a lifelong passion for chamber music by diving into the repertoire and playing simply for the joy of it. We want to stimulate a love of music and give our students the experience of playing with others � something they can do both on the amateur and professional levels." The festival will wrap up with performances by the student chamber orchestra and a separate marathon of chamber ensembles, including a Graduate Chamber Ensemble leading a Corelli Concerto Grosso. If you�re looking for a great festival next summer, this one deserves a serious look. Performers/Faculty:

2026 ETSU Chamber Music Festival faculty members.

Violin Tim Barrett, Academy of Strings Eric Boruff, North Carolina Youth Symphony, Boruff Violin Studio Marianna Brickle, ETSU Yu-Fang Chen, Ball State University Eva Dove, Southeast Missouri State University I-Pei Lin, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra William Shaub, Concertmaster, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Kyle Venlet, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Viola Kathryn Gawne, Principal Viola, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra David Kovac, ETSU Joshua Ulrich, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Cello Ignacy Gaydamovich, ETSU Patrick Hopkins, Southeast Missouri State University Bass Joseph Gaskins

The Week in Reviews, Op. 554: Timothy Ridout, Quatuor �b�ne, Clara Jumi-Kang

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:59:49 GMT

By Laurie Niles: In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world. Click on the highlighted links to read the entire reviews.

Violist Timothy Ridout. Photo by Jiyang Chen.

Violist Timothy Ridout performed Berlioz's "Harold in Italy" with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Sir Simon Rattle in Dublin.

Bach Track: "Ridout�s tawny mellow sound seemed to breathe the music, at times using no vibrato but slowly allowing it to blossom. The care paid to dynamics both by soloist and orchestra was remarkable, the dialogue between the viola and the harp reduced to the faintest whispering."

Quatuor �b�ne performed a six-concert cycle of all Beethoven's quartets over eight days at Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Bach Track: "Quatuor �b�ne has many unique features, among which is the lightness and transparency of sonority, and this was particularly clear in their performance of (String Quartet no. 3 in D major, Op.18 No. 3)....the virtuosic finale was taken at a thrilling pace, with the players almost spurring each other on."

Clara Jumi-Kang performed Britten's Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Ben Glassberg at Cadogan Hall.

Bach Track: "Kang�s reading of the concerto was one of great poise, giving elegant testimony to the force of its original motifs and phrases, and revelling in its particular technical challenges."

Mar�a Due�as performed the Korngold Violin Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and Tianyi Lu.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "Due�as sold it all with plush phrasing, blazing passagework, high-wire harmonics and an especially ripe lower register. Last performed here 20 years ago, the Korngold work is borderline kitsch that may not reward multiple exposures. But on this night, the soloist made it come across as best-in-show."

Ray Chen and pianist Chelsea Wang performed a recital of works by Mozart, Grieg, Bach and Sarasate at Rockwell Center in Manila.

PhilSTAR L!fe: "Live music, regardless of genre and audience demographic, has the power to keep people in the present. A theater setting, such as for Chen's recital, is even more potent since the audience is forbidden to use their phones throughout the performance. There is no choice but to fully enjoy the music. And for two hours Wednesday night, that was exactly what Chen's audience did"

Johan Dalene performed Barber�s Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra and Karen Kamensek at the Kennedy Center.

Washington Classical Review: "The Andante sostenuto fit his talents better, demanding more straightforwardly ardent playing, matched by Kamensek and the orchestra, particularly in the reflective, lush opening oboe solo."

Madeleine Easton and Simone Slattery performed works by Telemann, Bach and Vivaldi with Bach Akademie Australia.

Bach Track: "One�s enjoyment was greatly enhanced by the evident good time being had by the musicians, in particular Slattery who produced a variety of entertaining facial expressions."

David Coucheron and pianist Julie Coucheron performed Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra with Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra and Henry Cheng.

EarRelevant: "Both of their performances in Mendelssohn�s Double Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra were exceptional, showing great sensitivity and confidence."

Barry Shiffman, Chee-Yun Kim, Colin Carr, Mira Kardan and Jon Kimura Parker performed works by Brahms and Arensky in the opening concert of the the Rockport Chamber Music Festival.

Boston Musical Intelligencer: "From beginning to end, the musicians explored every emotional shade from morbid contemplation to fiery angst."

Please support live music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can! You might also like:

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Review: Vijay Gupta's New Book 'Restrung' -- For Dad

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:32:26 GMT

By Laurie Niles: After reading Vijay Gupta's beautifully written and deeply personal pager-turner of a new book Restrung several times over, I realized that his most poignant words may be the ones that appear before the first page: "For Dad."

Violinist Vijay Gupta signs his new book, "Restrung," for V.com's Laurie Niles.

Certainly, this is a fascinating memoir about a fascinating person: violinist Vijay Gupta played in Carnegie Hall at age eight; went to Juilliard and Yale at age 13, was the youngest-ever member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 19, a darling of the TED Talk stage soon after. He co-founded the not-for-profit Street Symphony at age 23. Then several months after receiving a MacArthur Fellowship ("Genius Grant") at age 30, Vijay did what might seem unimaginable for those with aspirations in the classical music world: he left the LA Phil -- one of the steadiest and best-paid jobs in the industry -- to focus on his advocacy work. His Street Symphony organization continues to both present performances and encourage music-making among the thousands of homeless and incarcerated in Los Angeles. That story is riveting in itself, and Vijay tells it in great detail, from Suzuki lessons to Juilliard, from Walt Disney Concert Hall to the grimiest streets in Los Angeles. But the raw emotion in this book comes in large part from the story of his family and his relationship with his late father, whom he describes as fiercely loving and supportive on one hand, and toxically ambitious on the other. On Friday I attended Vijay's book release event at the Sierra Madre Playhouse (up the street from me, in Sierra Madre, Calif.) for "Restrung." The event included conversation as well as performances by Vijay and his musical colleagues who have performed with him in venues ranging from Disney Hall to Skid Row -- Yoshika Masuda, Jonathan Karoly, Jin-Shan Dai and Ryan Davis.

Vijay Gupta's book release event: Laurie in front of the Sierra Madre Playhouse in Sierra Madre, Calif.

It was a celebration of music and words, and the music was exquisite - intense, extremely well-played and at times unapologetically thorny. Cellist Yoshi joined Vijay for a performance of Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello, M. 73 that literally had people gasping. And later Jonathan, Jin-Shan and Ryan joined Vijay for Beethoven's Quartet No. 10, Op. 74.

Violinist Vijay Gupta and cellist Yoshika Masuda.

The name of Vijay's book, "Restrung," evolved from a line in a poem from the 1916 book Gitanjali by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore: "I have spent many days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung." Vijay told us that this book demanded that he explore "what it means to become the instrument of myself" - to keep that instrument strung, despite the pressure and force of all those strings, and to find the "song he came to sing." In Vijay's words, his father "was my childhood best friend." The first music he heard was his father's voice, in a song of prayer. His parents were immigrants from West Bengal, struggling mightily to make a better life for themselves and their two sons. In Vijay's life, his dad was front, center and always somewhere out in the audience - scheming to make him famous. Ambition proved to be a double-edged sword - Vijay succeeded, but at the price of his childhood, his health, his relationships. After spending his childhood developing his prodigious talents, Vijay was gobsmacked when his parents forbade music as a career path once he became a teenager. They wanted him to aim for something more lucrative. Later, when he surprised them by landing the well-paying LA Phil job, they took his wages as their own. He so no reason to protest - until he did. Ultimately their path led to a heartbreaking estrangement, and much of this story is about Vijay's personal healing. He found it in realigning his purpose toward the meaningful work that he found in creating a musical community in Skid Row - and away from parental expectations. For all the pain (both physical and emotional) caused by his trajectory as a violinist, the book makes it clear - and Friday's event made it clear - that Vijay has never lost his deep love of music and the violin itself. In fact, Vijay provides a kind of musical soundtrack for the book, heading each chapter with a musical phrase - written in his own hand - from Twinkle to Brahms 4 to Handel's "Messiah."

Vijay's descriptions of symphonic music are pure poetry, and woven into his own stories are stories of the great composers and their struggles. He writes about Schumann's mental decline, Beethoven's deafness, and about the brokenness (and broke-ness!) that led Handel to write his most enduring piece, the "Messiah." "So much of this music came from people who were aching," Vijay said on Friday. Vijay writes about his own humbling evolution, when he started playing at jails and homeless shelters. The first time he played at a prison, "I had walked into that room thinking I was the only musician there, and all anyone would want from me was to be dazzled by my calcified, dissociative perfection," he writes. His performance of Bach's Chaconne was met with a demand for "songs we know." Then, an inmate actually began to sing to Vijay. "I couldn't have known I was witnessing one of the greatest music lessons of my life." And of course he writes about his father, who passed away suddenly from a heart attack while still estranged. Healing and forgiveness - "re-stringing" - was something Vijay would have to do on his own. Eventually he realized that when it came to his father, "...the only way to keep loving him was to love the only part of him I had left: me." Restrung had me laughing, crying and reveling at both the power of music and the power of words. Clearly, Vijay is a master of both. * * * Find Vijay Gupta's new book, "Restrung," here. You might also like:

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V.com weekend vote: Which historical violinist would you want to see perform live?

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 04:21:52 GMT

By Laurie Niles: If you could take one (just one!) trip back in time to see a historical violinist play live, whom would you go see?

Can you put a name with these faces? Illustration by Violinist.com.

I'm thinking of the violinists who left either little or no recordings of their performances, certainly no videos, and violinists whom no person living in 2026 would have seen, even early in life. So many violinists have "lived on," even without video or recording - through the word-of-mouth stories passed from teachers to students, through their compositions, through reviews and books. But what was it like, to hear them play? I have assembled a list of some of the obvious potential choices, but I've certainly not included every one. If you haven't heard of some of them, I have assembled some links and brief descriptions below. So please participate in the vote by either choosing one of these violinists, or select "someone else" and please contribute to our discussion by describing that "someone else" in the comments! (Also, feel free to elaborate on any of the violinists on this list, my descriptions are far from complete!) Some historical violinists, in alphabetical order:

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704) -- The Baroque violinist-genius who wrote the Rosary Sonatas had to be an interesting player!
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799) -- French violinist, composer and swordsman of African descent, his music has seen a resurgence of late.
George Bridgetower (1778-1860) -- this Polish-born British violinist was Beethoven's inspiration for the "Kreutzer Sonata."
Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) -- this Hungarian violinist had a legendary career, inspiring concertos by Schumann, Brahms, Bruch, and Dvor�k (although he didn't play them all) - and he wrote many of the cadenzas commonly played today for concerti by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and more.
Ginette Neveu (1919-1949) -- there are indeed a few recordings of this French violinist, who beat David Oistrakh to win the Polish Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition when she was just 15! Her life was cut short at age 30 by a plane crash.
Niccol� Paganini. (1782-1840) -- this Italian violinist was a legend, even in his own time, when people whispered that he'd made a "deal with the devil" in order to be such a virtuoso. Considering the pieces he wrote for his own performances, he must have been quite a showman.
Maud Powell (1867-1920) -- this violinist, born in Illinois, gave the first American performances of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos and was an early champion of a diverse range of American music.
Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) -- A Spanish virtuoso, he wrote his own showpieces (like Zigeunerweisen and Carmen Fantasy) and also inspired a stunning amount of repertoire for our instrument by other composers, including Henryk Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2, �douard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole, Camille Saint-Sa�ns' Violin Concerto No. 3 and his Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy.
Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) -- We know of him through the many concertos he wrote for violin, but when he was young he was compared to Paganini.

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International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Announces 2026 Participants

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 19:00:44 GMT

By Laurie Niles: On Friday the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) announced the 40 violinists are invited to participate in this year's competition, which will take place Sept. 17 - Oct. 4. The participants are:

Leah Amory, 22, of the United States
Zachary Brandon, 27, of the United States
Anton Carus, 18, of the United States
Yige Chen, 26, of China
Zekai Chen, 16, of China
Karisa Chiu, 27, of the United States
Sungmin Cho, 25, of South Korea
Elli Choi, 25, of the United States
Bade Dastan, 19, of Turkey / Belgium
Corina Deng, 18, of Canada
Hawijch Elders, 27, of Netherlands
Elina He, 17, of Hong Kong, China
Ria Honda, 26, of the United States / Japan
Semi Hong, 26, of South Korea
Seonglan Hong, 25, of South Korea
Miray Ito, 23, of the United States
Wenlan Jackson, 24, of the United States
Yeyeong, Jenny) Jin, 23, of South Korea
Donghyun Kim, 27, of South Korea
Hyunseo Kim, 16, of South Korea
Alice Lee, 26, of Canada
Chaeyeon Lee, 22, of South Korea
Jiyoon Lee, 27, of South Korea
Yesong Sophie Lee, 22, of the United States
Yoonseo Lee, 24, of South Korea
Yun Lee, 25, of Taiwan
Hairui Lei, 21, of China
Dongmin Lim, 25, of South Korea
Haewon Lim, 22, of South Korea
Chaowen Luo, 25, of China
Lina Nakano, 21, of Japan
Christina Nam, 23, of the United States
Audrey Park, 23, of the United States
Maria Sotriffer, 26, of Austria
Julian Walder, 25, of Austria
Sophie Wang, 26, of Taiwan
Sara Watanabe, 21, of Japan
Aozhe Zhang, 18, of China
Jingzhi Zhang, 25, of China
Xunyue Zhang, 22, of China

2022 IVCI Gold Medalist Sirena Huang performing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Denis Kelly.

12th Quadrennial Violin Competition attracted 167 applications from 30 countries. Individuals selected for the competition represent 10 countries across three continents, and range from ages 16 to 27. Most participants come from South Korea (11), followed by the United States (10) and China (8). On Friday the Indianapolis also announced the members of the 2026 jury, which will include a number of laureates of previous competitions. They are: Jury President Jaime Laredo, David Chan (1994 Bronze Medalist), Jinjoo Cho (2014 Gold Medalist), Pamela Frank, Yuzuko Horigome, Bella Hristova (2006 Laureate), Dong-Suk Kang, Cho-Liang Lin and Svetlin Roussev (1998 Laureate). Opening ceremonies for The Indianapolis will take place Sept. 17, followed preliminaries, then semi-finals. A Classical Finals round will feature performances with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and a Finals round will feature the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Leonard Slatkin. The gold medalist in this year's competition will win a cash prize of $75,000, a Carnegie Hall recital debut, a CD recording contract, and website development and maintenance for four years following the Competition. The Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists receive career management and international concert engagements for four years. All six Laureates receive cash prizes and the opportunity to use one of several concert instruments in the IVCI collection, including the 1683 �ex-Gingold� Stradivari violin, until the next Quadrennial Competition in 2030. See our Violinist.com coverage of previous Indianapolis competitions here. * * *

For the Record, Op. 386: Steven Copes & SPCO; Elias David Moncado; Ivalas Quartet

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:34:14 GMT

Violinist Steven Copes, Concertmaster of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Photo courtesy of SPCO.

Prokofiev Re-Imagined Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Steven Copes, concertmaster Stephen Prutsman, composer

Heritage Elias David Moncado, violin Mirabelle Kajenjeri, piano Fondation Gautier Capu�on

Deliverance Ivalas Quartet Reuben Kebede, violin Tiani Butts, violin Marcus Stevenson, viola Pedro S�nchez, cello Derrick Skye, composer

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LA Phil Names New Concertmaster: Violinist Vineta Sareika

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:27:22 GMT

By Laurie Niles: On Thursday the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced the appointment of its next concertmaster: Latvian violinist Vineta Sareika, who will join the orchestra in the 2026/27 season.

Violinist Vineta Sareika. Photo by Neda Navaee, courtesy of the LA Phil.

Sareika, 40, will fill the seat vacated by Martin Chalifour, who retired in spring of 2025 after holding the position for 30 years. Longtime LA Phil Associate Concertmaster Bing Wang has been serving as Acting Concertmaster since that time. Sareika made history as first woman to hold the position of First Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, serving from 2023 to 2025. Sareika started violin studies at age five in her home town of Jurmala in Latvia. A laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition, her major teachers were G�rard Poulet and Augustin Dumay. Sareika was first violinist of the Artemis Quartet from 2012 until the group took a break following the pandemic. She was Principal Concertmaster of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from from 2010 to 2013 and has been a guest concertmaster for Boston Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Deutsche Oper Berlin and other orchestras. Sareika's LA Phil appointment was made following a search led by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in consultation with incoming Music Director Daniel Harding. The concertmaster is a leader of the orchestra, sitting "first chair" in the first violin section, with responsibilities that generally include performing major violin solos, being an artistic liaison between conductor and orchestra, helping select new members of the orchestra and attending to details such as bowings. "I�ve admired Vineta�s playing for years: the intelligence behind every phrase, the integrity, the sense that nothing is ever done for effect," said incoming Music Director Daniel Harding. "There�s an infectious joy and warmth to the way she plays, that everyone in the room feels. I�m delighted she�s coming to Los Angeles, and I can�t wait to make music with her." "Vineta is a highly respected and accomplished musician whose artistry, spirit, and leadership reflect everything a great concertmaster should be," Dudamel said. "She brings not only remarkable experience, but also a deep musical generosity and passion for collaboration. We are thrilled to welcome her to the LA Phil." "I am deeply honored to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Concertmaster," Sareika said. "The orchestra�s artistic excellence is admired throughout the world, but what impressed me most during my time with the musicians was the sense of trust, warmth, and shared commitment I experienced. I felt genuinely welcomed and inspired by their collective desire to create something meaningful together. For me, that spirit of trust and collaboration is an essential foundation for making great music, and I look forward to becoming part of this extraordinary musical community and contributing to the orchestra�s future." * * *

The Prison Yard Changed the Way I Hear the Violin

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:25:46 GMT

By christian howes: I was a classically trained violinist with a professional orchestra contract at 18 years old. At 20, I went to prison for four years. It�s not the typical trajectory we talk about in the violin world. But I�m writing this for Violinist.com because that experience changed how I think about music education, and about what the violin can mean in the world. And I think it might matter to you, whether you are a teacher, a performer, or a student.

Violinist Christian Howes, in "Redemption Time."

Let me back up. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, studying through the Suzuki method from age five. I went to the Chautauqua Performing Arts Institute the summer after eighth grade, and I remember the exact moment a 12-year-old violinist named Ruby played a solo with our orchestra with the soul of a 75-year-old woman. Something stirred in me. I started practicing three hours a day. I knew exactly who I was. I felt whole. By high school, I was also playing guitar and bass in rock bands, but the classical path was the one with structure. I got a scholarship to Ohio State, honors dorm, orchestra, the whole thing. And then I turned my back on it. I found a different crowd, a different scene. I won�t belabor the details, but a series of choices led to a drug trafficking charge, and at age 20, I was sentenced to six to 25 years. I served four. And during that time, everything I thought I knew about music got taken apart and rebuilt. Here is what I want to tell you, because this is really the heart of it. The prison yard is a very interesting place. When I would go out into the yard, I would usually find the musicians. Some guys sitting at a picnic table, freestyling, keeping rhythm with their hands. Guys with acoustic guitars, maybe a harmonica, playing country music. Acapella gospel singers standing around the yard. I would listen. I would jam with them. And sometimes I would practice my Mendelssohn, Bach, or improvise by myself in the middle of the yard too. I had been trained in one system of learning, one tradition, one set of values about what music was supposed to be. And there I was, surrounded by musicians whose depth and intelligence were undeniable, even though none of it came from the tradition I had been raised in. I was learning something in this situation, and I felt like I owed it to myself and everyone around me to take it seriously. Not because I was trying to be open-minded in some abstract way. But because the music was real. The feeling was real. And besides, it was my only option if I wanted to make music with other people. It wasn�t like we had an orchestra. I realized something then that has stayed with me for 30 years: The violin is an archetypal symbol in our culture. It stands for beauty, refinement, discipline, history, and excellence. All beautiful things. But it also tends to represent a very narrow slice of human experience. Our music education system often treats the classical canon as the center, and other ways of learning as secondary. And I don�t say that to reject classical music. I love classical music. But prison is where I confronted the limits of what I had been taught the violin could mean. I decided to study jazz and other forms of music. Not because I rejected classical music, but because I wanted the violin to mean something bigger than what I had been taught it could mean. I have spent the last 30 years trying to understand what that experience taught me � about music, education, freedom, and living. That is part of why I made Redemption Time. Redemption Time is a 70-minute multimedia performance film featuring me and the great poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, who also went to prison as a young man and taught himself to read and write while incarcerated. He now has a PhD in Literature and won the American Book Award for Poetry. The film was directed by David Gonzalez, whose work has been featured at Lincoln Center, on PBS, and on NPR. It features an incredible band of musicians, including Shannon Hoover (bass), Lovell Bradford (piano), and Grammy-award-winning multi-instrumentalist Hamilton Hardin (drums and saxophone). The hour-long film unfolds across 10 episodes, moving through distinct themes: innocence, the fall, complicity, guilt, violence, the code, hurt, thirst, freedom, and love. Each episode interweaves poetry, music, imagery, and first-person storytelling. The violin is not background music in the film. It becomes another voice.

From "Redemption Time": Christian Howes on violin.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking that this sounds heavy. This sounds like it is about prison. Why would I want to watch this? Fair question. Yes, there are hard stories in the film. There is pain and honesty about what incarceration does to a human being. But that is not the reason to watch it. The reason to watch it is that this film is about what happens when people are given a chance to begin again. It is about what happens when art meets the worst circumstances a person can face, and still finds a way through. And I think that is something every musician understands, even if your circumstances are nothing like mine. If you are a teacher, this film may make you think differently about what you are really offering when you hand a young person a violin. It is not just technique and repertoire. It can be a tool for survival, expression, discipline, identity, and connection. If you care about where music education is headed, the film raises questions about whose stories get told, whose traditions get valued, and what happens when we create space for more of it. The violin does not have to be an instrument of one tradition. It can be a bridge. After showing this film in jails, churches, music venues, theaters, and universities, one of the most powerful moments I witnessed was a young cellist breaking down after a screening because her father had been locked up for years. She had shut him out. After the movie, she said she was going to call him that week. That is what this film does at its best: it opens something. If you are a performer, I think you will respond to the music in this film, and hear how the violin can exist in different spaces. If you are a teacher, I think you may hear your own students differently. And if you have ever made a mistake, felt like an outsider, or wondered whether redemption is real, this film is for you too. I�m still a work in progress. I�m still learning how to be honest about my story without letting it define me, how to rewrite that story when needed, and how to share it in a way that creates space for other people to reflect on their own. On June 16, you can see Redemption Time from wherever you are. There will be two livestream showtimes, 2 p.m. Eastern and 8 p.m. Eastern, followed by a live online Q & A. Choose your screening and get tickets here. I would love for you to experience it and consider bringing the film to your community or institution (https://redemptiontimeshow.com/host-event/ ), where it can be paired with discussion and learning.

The artists in 'Redemption Time': Lovell Bradford, >Jimmy Santiago Baca, Shannon Hoover, Christian Howes and Hamilton Hardin.

I will leave you with these words from Jimmy Santiago Baca: "They can build these prison walls higher and skirt them on top with bladed wire, but the razor wire cannot entangle my ideas and keep them from flying over." That is what art can do -- that is what the violin can do. * * * For more information on the film Redemption Time, click here. To get tickets to watch one of the June 16 screenings, click here. You might also like:

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