Violinist.com

Koshiro Takeuchi Wins First Prize in 2026 Montreal Violin Competition

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 22:25:34 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Koshiro Takeuchi of Japan has won First Prize in the 2026 Concours musical international de Montr�al (Montreal International Music Competition - Violin).

Violinists Laurel Gagnon, Koshiro Takeuchi and Sara Watanabe. Photo by TAM Photography.

The laureates announced Thursday night include:

First Prize: Koshiro Takeuchi, 21, of Japan ($30,000 + $40,000 career development grant)
Second Prize: Sara Watanabe, 21, of Japan ($15,000 + $10,000 career development grant)
Third Prize: Laurel Gagnon, 30, of the United States ($10,000 + $10,000 career development grant)

As First Prize winner, Koshiro also will receive the three-year loan of the 1728�30 "ex-Christopher Warren-Green" Giuseppe Guarneri del Ges� violin, as well as professional development opportunities, performance engagements, and residencies.

Violinist Koshiro Takeuchi. Photo courtesy of the Concours musical international de Montr�al.

PRIZES for unranked finalists ($3,000 each):

Aozhe Zhang, 17, of China
Bade Dastan, 19, of Turkey and Belgium

SPECIAL PRIZES:

Audience Choice Award ($5,000): Bade Dastan, of Belgium and Turkey
Best Canadian Artist ($5,000): Justin Saulnier, of Canada
Mozart Prize ($3,000): Sara Watanabe, of Japan
Baroque Prize ($2,500): Koshiro Takeuchi, of Japan
Canadian Work Prize ($2,500): Laurel Gagnon, of the United States
Sonata Prize ($2,500): Laurel Gagnon, of the United States
Junior Jury Prize ($1,500): Charlotte Spruit, of the Netherlands

First Prize winner Koshiro Takeuchi was born in Tokyo and began playing the violin at the age of five. After graduating from the Tokyo College of Music High School, he became a full scholarship student at the Manhattan School of Music (Bachelor of Music) and is also a full scholarship student at the Tokyo College of Music (Artist Diploma), studying with Koichiro Harada, Lucie Robert, and Mayuko Kamio. He has won top prizes in a number of major competitions, including First Prize at the inaugural Ion Voicu International Violin Competition in 2025; Third Prize at the Long-Thibaud International Music Competition in 2023; Fifth Prize at the Amici di Paganini Association Award (along with a special prize for Best Contemporary Music Performance); and the Dr. Enrico Costa Memorial Award at the 57th International Violin Competition �Premio Paganini� in 2023. In 2024, he made his debut performing with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Tadaki Otaka. The jury for the 2026 Violin edition includes chair Lucie Robert, Ju-Young Baek, Glenn Dicterow, Simin Ganatra, Yuzuko Horigome, R�gis Pasquier, Barry Shiffman and Pavel Vernikov. You might also like:

* * *

For the Record, Op. 385: Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev; Quatuor Diotima

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 21:10:46 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 Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev.

Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos in D minor & E minor Op. 64 Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev, violin W�rttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Howard Griffiths conducting

Beethoven: The Late String Quartets Quatuor Diotima Yunpeng Zhao, violin L�o Marillier, violin Franck Chevalier, viola Alexis Descharmes, cello

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:

* * *

Celebrating the 'Wunderkind' - North Shore Music Festival Day 1

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 04:58:57 GMT

By Laurie Niles: How does a "wunderkind" fit into the world of music? Does a child prodigy belong under the harsh glow of the spotlight, or in the embrace of a supportive community? Violinist Vadim Gluzman and pianist Angela Yoffe - founders of the North Shore Chamber Music Festival (NSCMF) - clearly embrace the "community" model, identifying talented young people and supporting them at the beginning of their careers and beyond. Through their Arkady Fomin Scholarship Fund, they've given scholarships to 80 artists over the course of 11 years. When it comes to their festival, it's a friends-and-family affair that includes both the youngest of young artists - and the ones who have grown older. Music itself, after all, has no age. So on Wednesday, when they kicked off their 16th festival with a concert called "Wunderkind!" - it was not only a celebration of works written by composers who prodigies in their own time, but it was also a celebration of the young musicians that NSCMF has featured over the years. The program began with a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's seldom-played Piano Trio in C minor, MWV Q3, written when the composer was just 11 years old. "Mendelssohn was perhaps the greatest prodigy of all music history," said violist Masumi Rostad, noting that the piece was written a full five years before some of the composer's finest works: the Octet, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the Op. 13 quartet (all still written as a teenager!) The three musicians performing this piece represented three different generations: Rostad, a career musician in his 40s; violinist Joshua Brown, age 26, a recent graduate of the New England Conservatory who was one of the first Fomin scholarship recipients; and Lucas Chiche, 14 - a pianist from Switzerland who is the newest Fomin scholarship recipient. Rostad said of his young piano colleague: "If you didn't know he was 14, you wouldn't know he was 14!" I'll add, if you didn't know the ages of any of these musicians, you might simply marvel at their remarkable compatibility. In this work, the young Mendelssohn alternates all three instruments between melody and harmony. Rostad, Brown and Chiche were attentive in their changing roles, keeping the continuity as the melody ran through their different instruments. The second movement is mercurial and dramatic, full of rapid notes and tricky interplay, which they handled with ease and even some humor. The third movement was quite interesting, sounding like a simple Baroque melody at the beginning, then evolving into a Romantic-sounding apotheosis, then returning to calm waters. And the fourth movement - so speedy for so much passagework! Did anyone in Mendelssohn's time take it so fast? But they pulled it off with panache, and I'm pretty sure 11-year-old Mendelssohn would have smiled along with them, as they took their bows.

Multi-generational trio: violinist Joshua Brown, pianist Lucas Chiche and violist Masumi Rostad.

Next was a piece I've never heard: Erich Korngold's String Sextet, Op. 10 - scored for two violins, two violas and two cellos, featuring Brown as well as cellist Mark Kosower, Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, and members of the Escher Quartet, violinist Adam Barnett Hart, violist Pierre Lapointe and cellist Brook Speltz. The piece was written before Korngold moved to the U.S. and before he had gained attention as a film composer - when he was just 18 years old, in 1916. You guessed it, he was also a "wunderkind"! Cellist Speltz introduced the piece, saying that by age 10, Korngold had "gained the recognition of the titans of his time" - such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, and by age 20 his compositions were already played worldwide. The young Korngold was influenced by Brahms, but also by the musical trends of his own time - a move toward dissonance and ambiguity. This was an excellent and lively reading of a piece that is hard to classify. As promised, the piece felt both Romantic and unsettled, with harmonies resolving in unexpected ways and complexity governing the rhythms. There were beautiful melodies that were not meant to set sail, but to ride choppy waters. While Korngld wrote for pairs of instruments - violin, viola, cello, he didn't set them up as partners - six voices went six ways for much of the time. The second movement showed glimpses of Korngold's future in movie music, with some beautiful melodies, particularly some heart-on-the-sleeve playing from Brown. Third movement, with its 6/8 meter, felt a little like a dance - a dance that doesn't get too many steps in before becoming distracted by other ideas. Kosower played an impressive cello solo in the fourth movement, a movement which heated up in intensity, with moments sounding almost like Shostakovich. In the end it sounds like it's finally going to set sail onto peaceful waters - then in a quick change of mood, it scampers playfully to a finish. A very interesting piece, and not one you hear too often!

Violinists Joshua Brown and Adam Barnett Hart; cellists Mark Kosower and Brook Speltz; violists Pierre Lapointe and Masumi Rostad.

The second half of the program began with Eugene Ysa�e's arrangement of Saint-Sa�ns' "Valse Caprice" - a piece with wicked technical demands for the violinist - played by Brown and pianist Janice Carissa (a 2019 Fomin scholar). Brown had played the same piece at the NSCMF 10 years ago, and so this was a "full circle moment," he said. "The difficulties are monstrous. It's an interesting combination of tasteful elegance - and insanity!" With that, Brown delivered round upon round of virtuosity - flourishes, octaves, left-hand pizzicato, glissandi - all with unerring intonation, great energy, and a certain lilt to keep it all in the realm of a "waltz."

Violinist Joshua Brown and pianist Janice Carissa.

Pianist Carissa was a sensitive partner with her own elaborate interludes. When the audience clapped prematurely during a pause in the music, Carissa won everyone over with a sly smile before they playfully launched back one last round of pyrotechnics, leading to the unmistakable "real" ending. The program ended with another unusual offering, also from Mendelssohn's teenage output - the Concerto for piano, violin and strings, featuring Gluzman and Carissa along with a quintet accompaniment by Barnett-Hart, violinist Julian Rhee (a 2020 Fomin scholar), Lapointe, Speltz and bassist Kurt Muroki. Rhee billed it as "almost a crash course in what we are going to hear throughout Mendelssohn's career - the lightness of Midsummer Night's Dream, the effervescence of his Octet, and the second movement has that kind of heart-breaking beauty of his 'Songs Without Words'" - all pieces he had yet to compose. A "double concerto" for violin and piano? This was the first time I'd heard of such a thing, but why not? The quintet provided a lyrical "orchestra" accompaniment that felt quite full.

Quintet: violinists Adam Barnett-Hart, Julian Rhee, cellist Brook Speltz, bassist Kurt Muroki and violist Pierre Lapointe.

From his first entrance, Gluzman was decisive and articulate, and Carissa was both sensitive and sure. (My only complaint was that it was difficult to see her behind everyone else - the livestream of the concert allows for a much better view of her than we had at the live concert!) Throughout the first and last movements, Gluzman and Carissa played blindingly fast passagework with impressive synchronicity and accuracy, while the second movement they weaved a series of beautiful melodic lines together.

Violinist Vadim Gluzman and pianist Janice Carissa.

A wonderful start to the Festival! You can watch the a video of first concert, Wunderkind - click here, and see a livestream of the next two nights of the festival on the Violin Channel - The American Quartet - click here on June 5 and Grand Finale: Tchaikovsky in America - click here on June 6. You might also like:

* * *

How I �Shot� Oistrakh, Milstein, Heifetz and Others

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 23:51:39 GMT

By Michael Brittan: It all started with my autograph book. Growing up in 1940's and 1950's South Africa I would tag along with my father to sporting events. I had a leatherbound, gold-embossed autograph book and would endeavor to get famous sports personalities to sign on the colored pages. So it was that I was able to get the signatures of the likes of top South African golfers such as Bobby Locke and the budding Gary Player, as well as tennis stars of that bygone era. Among the latter was visiting Australian Geoff Brown who was always entertaining on court with his unorthodox gyrations switching between left- and right-double-handed forehands and backhands. One sporting standout of my collection was acquiring the autograph in-person of legendary English cricketer, Denis Compton. In one game during the English cricket team tour of South Africa in 1947 he scored a record-shattering 300 runs in 3 hours and 1 minute, a feat which remains unequalled to this day in the annals of first-class cricket. My autograph book would also accompany me backstage to concerts in Johannesburg. Here in the green room I would seek out the great musicians of the day and have them sign the book as well as the concert programs. Unlike today's security-throttled environment, access to the musicians after concerts in those times was free and easy. Three full autograph books and multiple programs later, I now have the treasured signatures of many legends ranging from Johanna Martzy to Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Malcolm Sargent to Igor Stravinsky, and Benno Moiseiwitsch to Emil Gilels. Talking of Menuhin, another standout in my collection remains forever etched on my mind. This imprint is indelible for reasons entirely different from those of Denis Compton. The venue this time was backstage an orchestral concert at the Johannesburg City Hall in 1956. I had brought with me to the concert Menuhin's 78 rpm recording of the Paganini Moto Perpetuo. Listening to this record I had noted that with the modulation from C to G major at the start of the second side of the record, the accompanist enters a frantic fraction of a second before Menuhin. I asked Menuhin to autograph the label of the record.

The notable 78 rpm Yehudi Menuhin record of Paganini's Moto Perpetuo, the label signed by the artist after a concert at the Johannesburg City Hall on October 23rd, 1956 with the SABC Symphony Orchestra, featuring both the Mozart G Major and Brahms Concerti.

Perhaps anxious to make intelligent conversation, I drew this minor pianistic infraction to the attention of the great violinist! He seemed momentarily perplexed that anyone might focus on such insignificant detail of a long-forgotten recording but took it completely in stride. I still wince when recalling this teenage temerity. That Menuhin recording of course hailed from the days before corrective splicing of magnetic recording tape became commonplace. Heifetz, the ultimate perfectionist, would not have accepted the blemish, trivial though it may have been, and would have demanded a retake. Only by the grace of good fortune did I refrain from blurting out this additional thought to Menuhin! Such youthful indiscretions appeared to spawn paparazzi instincts. These eventually saw the light of day in the 1960s. I began to take a camera along to concerts. At this stage of my life, I was a graduate student at Yale University. At first, I confined my efforts to photographing the musical celebs in the green room of Yale's Woolsey Concert Hall. This, in itself, led to many interesting encounters.

Yale University's Woolsey Hall, a concert mecca. Here, Isaac Stern is upstaged by Vladimir Horowitz on the comeback trail. Photo by Michael Brittan.

To whit, Arthur Rubinstein would concertize at the university from time to time. On these occasions he would sometimes be seen on campus playing with his grandchildren. In his late seventies at the time, Rubinstein was less approachable and refused to give casual autographs or allow photographs. Undeterred, after an ethereal performance of Chopin's Concerto No 2 in F minor with the New Haven Symphony I went backstage. I happened to be dressed in a tuxedo and black tie, a consequence of having signed on as a student usher. Perhaps mistaking me as a member of the orchestra, Rubinstein posed for a photograph.

Arthur Rubinstein, who agreed to pose for this portrait after a concert at Yale, just a fortnight shy of his 78th birthday. Photo by Michael Brittan.

At his next symphony concert in New Haven, I appeared again in the green room bearing a print of the photograph. Pushing my luck in my formal attire worked a second time. Rubinstein duly signed the photograph. On another occasion, this time at Hunter College in New York City, I went backstage after a concert by the one-and-only David Oistrakh.

David Oistrakh photographed backstage Hunter College, New York on December 22nd, 1965 after dripping a few spots of water on my autograph book.

Prior to requesting a photograph I asked for his autograph. He had just washed his hands and apologized profusely for spilling a few drops on my autograph book. "Sorry, water," he offered in his broken English with a thick Russian accent. In that brief moment I had a rare sense of the great humanity of the man. Menuhin, reflecting on his unique musical partnership with Oistrakh, had frequently praised Oistrakh's incredible humility and gentle temperament, not to mention his unmatched musicianship. Things began to ratchet up when, one day, I came across a close-up image of Heifetz photographed on stage with the Berlin Philharmonic in January 1933. Famed photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt had engineered a front row seat in the concert hall and snapped the iconic picture with his signature Leica camera. (Click here to see it.) This concert was memorable in many respects for both photographer and artist. January 1933 happened to be the month when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. It wasn't long before Eisenstaedt, being Jewish, would experience the consequences of Nazi repression. He managed to emigrate to the U.S. in 1935. Heifetz never again performed in Germany, apart from his wartime service entertaining American troops in 1945. Inspired by the Eisenstaedt photograph of Heifetz, I had visions that one day I might be able to capture a striking composition of this nature, daunting though such delusional thinking might seem. Organizing a picture from close quarters with a soloist on stage would be tricky to say the least. The stars did eventually align, however, but not until February 8th 1966 and not with Heifetz as the prime subject. The artist on this occasion was yet another of the violin's towering giants, Nathan Milstein. The venue again was Woolsey Hall. Capitalizing on my prerogative as an usher, I claimed a vacant seat in the second row and snapped the accompanying photograph of Milstein on stage, absorbed in the opening tutti of the Beethoven Concerto.

My close-up of Nathan Milstein performing the Beethoven Concerto with the New Haven Symphony at Yale's Woolsey Hall on February 8th, 1966. Photo by Michael Brittan.

Milstein's pose at that moment could perhaps best be described as thoughtful or reflective, contrasting with the younger but more patrician Heifetz that Eisenstaedt had captured with the Berlin Philharmonic 33 years earlier. It should be added that I had here pushed the envelope of contemporary concert camera protocol by taking the daring step of triggering the shutter while the orchestra was playing. At this point it is worth digressing briefly to describe my camera. I was using an Asahi Pentax, which at the time embodied the latest in 35mm single lens reflex technology. The camera enabled through-the-lens viewing by virtue of an internal mirror angled at 45 degrees which directed the light received through the lens up and back to the viewfinder. So, one was able to see and frame exactly what the final picture would look like. The shutter mechanism involved a sliding curtain linked to the trigger button and the mirror. When the trigger button was pressed, a complex set of levers, gears, springs and linkages would explode into action with the release of compressed concatenation. The mirror would flip up out of the way, the shutter curtain would open and close for the set exposure instant and then the mirror would snap back to its original position. This all happened within a fraction of a second. The components of this masterpiece of Japanese engineering were impressively rugged. The resulting noise of shooting a picture was no less robust. When I took the photograph of Milstein, the sound would largely have been drowned out by the orchestra, though Beethoven could not provide immunity from the glares of my neighbors in the audience. Another step down this fateful path of flouting concert etiquette occurred on the thrilling occasion of a Vladimir Horowitz concert at Yale on November 13th, 1966. Horowitz had just embarked on the comeback trail after a twelve-year retirement from public performing. On this occasion I was most fortunate to secure a balcony seat looking at the keyboard over the pianist's right shoulder. This vantage point was too tempting to waste. The scene I captured for posterity caught the famous pianist with his imposing right hand resting on the ivories preparing to play.

Vladimir Horowitz about to launch into a special performance at Yale on November 13th, 1966 following a reclusive 12-year retirement. Note the right piano leg and caster of his Steinway elevated off the floor and the rear wheel chocked.

Horowitz would have his personal grand piano shipped to his concert venues. Close examination of the photograph after the slide had been processed revealed that the right wheel of the piano was elevated on a short ramp and the third wheel chocked. It appears that this may have been required to compensate for the slope of the floor and to prevent the precious Steinway from rolling off the stage during a particularly thunderous Horowitz onslaught. Going backstage after this seminal concert was not possible. So, I huddled instead in the cold November air outside the stage door. Eventually, the door opened. There stood Mrs. Horowitz, the redoubtable Wanda Toscanini. She averred that Volodya was very tired and could not see visitors. When asked about an autograph, she kindly offered to take my address. A few days later, an autographed program arrived in the mail. My amateur camera work described thus far had all involved some cheeky bending of concert propriety, but nothing too egregious. One lame excuse I could offer was that the challenge of low light conditions during a performance made me do it! 'Shooting' Heifetz at Carnegie Hall was a different matter. The venerated Carnegie Hall would be no routine Woolsey Hall caper. To add to the drama of the occasion, the names Carnegie Hall and Jascha Heifetz were inextricably and historically linked following his sensational American debut there in October 1917. Planning would be required. Having attended an Oistrakh recital at Carnegie Hall in December, 1963, I carefully scanned the program to determine if there were any prohibitions on photography. There were none. A good sign. The next trick was to get a ticket to a Heifetz concert. The odds were not good. Though I was living on the east coast of the U.S. at the time within striking distance of New York City, Heifetz had not appeared in performance in the New York area since a concert at Hunter College in 1956. By that stage of his career he had already begun to curtail his public solo performing. One day in late summer 1964 I wandered on the offchance into the Carnegie Hall booking office off 57th St. One of the much-heralded Heifetz-Piatigorsky concerts was scheduled for September 17th, with pianist Leonard Pennario at the keyboard. The concert was of course sold out. As I turned to leave, a gentleman approached the counter brandishing a spare ticket � Providence had provided my ticket to see and hear Heifetz � something I could only dream about in those early years listening to the inimitable sound of his playing on 78 rpm shellac and 33? rpm vinyl in faraway Johannesburg. My serendipitous seat on this occasion was up in one of the tiers of the hallowed hall - not exactly your ringside seat. This presented two problems for photography. The distance to the subject was one. As noted above, this would also exacerbate the problem of dim lighting in the concert hall. The choice of camera lens boiled down to a compromise - between magnification (lens size, more difficult to conceal) and loss of light in already low light conditions. The film speed compromise in this case was inevitable sacrifice of subject definition. My eventual choice was ASA 400 fast color slide film. The concert had been highly anticipated. As noted above this would be Heifetz's first New York appearance after eight years. Piatigorsky's absence was nearly as long. The atmosphere in the hall was electric. Under the banner "Heifetz Returns," Harold Schonberg would subsequently write in the The New York Times:When Mr. Heifetz and Mr. Piatigorsky walked out to play the Boccherini and Martinu duos, they were greeted with a rising ovation. It is no discredit to Mr. Piatigorsky to suggest that much of the applause was in honor of the violinist. Emotions ran high, and some members of the audience were observed weeping. With the camera an uncomfortable bulge under my overcoat, I took my seat in the auditorium. Planning and a measure of luck had brought me this far. But from this point on it was going to be all seat of the pants. As I leafed through the program, the first stumbling block raised its head. Under Information for Patrons of Carnegie Hall there appeared the following stern warning: "THE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS and the use of tape recorders during performance is strictly forbidden." My mind raced. There had been no such prohibition in the Oistrakh program. Protocol aside, why had it now been spelled out? They surely could not have read my mind, or could they have? The first half of the concert was an experience somewhere between heady and spellbinding. I was overcome with the awe of the occasion and enthralled by the playing. Then came intermission. Since my photographic intent might have been considered mildly nefarious, it could I suppose be said in the best underworld parlance that I had used the first half of the concert to "case the joint." I have to admit, nevertheless, the gnawing anxiety associated with the risks of the photographic challenge I had set myself. This began to take a toll as the intermission wore on. Could I really go through with it? Heifetz and Piatigorsky returned to the stage with pianist Pennario to another rousing round of applause. The lights dimmed. They finished tuning up. The audience was hushed. I wrestled with the interpretation of the words "during performance" in the ban on camera use. If taken literally, this window was now virtually closed. A voice in my head suddenly yelled: "It's now or never!" I jumped up out of my seat, took aim, pressed the trigger, and instantly sat back down. The immediate sensation following this rush of blood was one of alarm. The sharp report of the camera had indeed affirmed the vaunted acoustics of Carnegie Hall. The sound seemed to leave my left ear, reverberate counterclockwise around the auditorium, and then come back to my right ear. To my mind the shattering of the silence was frightening.

The memorable shot of Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky and Leonard Pennario captured on stage, Carnegie Hall, September 17th, 1964. Photo by Michael Brittan.

The sound also alerted the guardians of public order. Out of the corners of my eyes I glimpsed several ushers to the left and right rising out of their seats to converge on the source of the disturbance. But just at that very moment, Pennario launched into the triplet motif of the first measure of the Arensky Trio in D minor, followed immediately by Heifetz's entry. With the playing underway, the ushers were obliged to resume their seats. Thank you, Leonard Pennario! At the end of the concert, with the camera once again buried under my overcoat, I did my best to meld in with the throng. I noticed a couple of the officials eyeing me suspiciously, trying to pick me out from a distance over the heads of the shuffling mob. I raced backstage as quickly as the surge of exiting patrons would allow only to find the door to the artists room filled by the impressive 6' 6" frame of Gregor Piatigorsky. It may be hard to credit, but the intervening eight years after my earlier Menuhin gaffe had done little for my social graces - I immediately enquired of Piatigorsky whether Heifetz was there. But he seemed unfazed by the-now-all-too-familiar refrain that Harold Schonberg had so politely referred to in The Times. Heifetz had in fact already left. At that stage of his career he did not linger after concerts, perhaps finding backstage adulation more tiresome than my research had shown had once been the case in his younger more affable days. At the same time, Piatigorsky and Pennario were gracious enough to sign the program � along with the ever-present autograph book.

Program of the September 17th, 1964 Heifetz-Piatigorsky concert signed by Gregor Piatigorsky and Leonard Pennario.

The photograph I had captured could in a sense be considered iconic. Apart from featuring the legendary Heifetz and Piatigorsky, it also highlighted Carnegie Hall's storied stage. The flooring of this stage would subsequently be replaced in the course of the major 1985-86 restoration project initiated by the tireless efforts of Isaac Stern. For years after shooting the picture, I was plagued with fears that releasing the photograph would prompt Carnegie Hall to come after me for this dastardly deed. Perhaps, in my wild imaginings, they even had a hotline to the Feds! So, I sat on the image for 57 years before finally publishing it in 2021. By this time, I figured that the powers that be might even lend their blessing to an image which captured an historic moment in time of this quintessential New York landmark. As a final footnote to this Carnegie Hall history, it may be noted that many concertgoers, critics and performers were not happy with the hall's acoustics following the 1985-86 restoration. The stage floor, so prominent in my 1964 photograph, and which had served so well for decades, was replaced with tongue-and-groove maple flooring. This floor subsequently buckled and was replaced as part of a 1995 general acoustic fix. But the celebrated acoustics of September 17, 1964 were lost forever. Unless, that is, someone happened to capture the 'shot' while recording with their new 1964 Philips/Norelco pocket cassette recorder � You might also like:

* * *

Larsen Strings Introduces New 'Sovereign' Cello Strings

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 22:19:51 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Denmark-based Larsen Strings has introduced a new set of strings for cello, Sovereign, developed in collaboration with cellist Johannes Moser as well as other international artists.

Sovereign cello strings, cellist Johannes Moser.

Available since mid-May, Larsen described the strings as "a step towards a more soloistic and responsive sound, with particular emphasis on the role of the lower register in shaping the instrument�s voice." The set includes newly engineered G and C strings, built on flexible steel cores and wound with tungsten, intended to provide a more immediate, focused and projecting sound, while maintaining clarity and agility under the bow. "These are race car strings," Moser said. "These are strings that punch, these are strings that project, these are strings that are super-strong." Moser described the strings as having the characteristic Larsen warmth, but with an additional "punch." Moser describes the strings in this video: The strings are designed for balance across the entire set, but also with the idea that the G and C strings will integrate with all other Larsen A and D strings, allowing players to enhance their lower register while maintaining upper-string preferences that are familiar. Here are a few more cello-celebrity endorsements: From German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt: "Sovereign creates a natural connection with the instrument, letting its true voice unfold in its full potential. The C String is incredibly responsive, giving the instrument space to breathe, and fully resonate." From Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta: "I�m truly thrilled with the Sovereign for Cello � it already made a real difference in concert, and I can�t wait to keep exploring where it takes me." For more information about Larsen's new Sovereign Cello Strings, click here. You might also like:

* * *

The Week in Reviews, Op. 552: Shunske Sato, cellist Carter Brey; Joshua Bell trio

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:05:12 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.

Violinist and conductor Shunske Sato. Photo by Eduardus Lee, courtesy of the artist.

Shunske Sato performed and directed Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in a concert devoted to the French Revolution.

Ludwig van Toronto: "The immensely gifted Sato harnessed the energy of all of the compositions in the program to create a lustrous dynamism, which stimulated the orchestra to heights of musical creativity."

Cellist Carter Brey performed Saint-Sa�ns' Cello Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic and Elim Chan.

Bach Track: "...he delivered a powerfully poignant rendition, warm and authoritative, of this frequently heard concerto, demonstrating that his musicianship remains as focused and deeply felt as ever."

Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Evgeny Kissin performed a recital of piano trios at Carnegie Hall.

Bach Track: "...the three musicians found common ground among works whose underlying connections gradually came into focus....Bell's luminous tone and Isserlis's characteristically vocal phrasing found a natural complement in Kissin's rhythmic clarity and rich palette of colour."
New York Classical Review: "While the program fit together, the musicians often did not."

Mar�a Due�as performed Korngold�s Violin Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Sebastian Weigle.

Texas Classical Review: "Due�as dazzled throughout the Korngold Violin Concerto that followed; the full rich tone of her instrument was suitably pensive during more lyrical moments while her more virtuosic passages maintained a singing quality despite their ardent vigor."

Hilary Hahn performed Lalo's "Symphonie espagnole" with the New York City Ballet, choreographed by Tiler Peck, at Lincoln Center.

Slipped Disc: "Hahn�s playing � I caught two performances � was not only brilliant (passagework galore) but lustrous, with gorgeous depths of mellow tone."

Ray Chen performed Korngold's Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

London Theatre 1: "A mark of his showmanship and sheer love of playing, he broke a string and without missing a beat, he swapped violins with the first violin. When another string broke, he took the violin of the second violin. All with a smile and a sense of fun. His playing was superb, and if anyone can get a younger demographic into classical music, then it�s surely Ray Chen."

Bradley Creswick performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 the York Guildhall Orchestra.

Charles Hutch Press: "...his entire approach to the introduction was leisurely, liberally laced with rubato, and his mellow tone in the slow movement was ideally suited to its tear-jerking melodies. It was not until the jaunty rhythms of the finale that he really let loose, bouncing crisply through both main melodies and accelerating with panache through the coda."

Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev performed Dvor�k's Violin Concerto in A minor with the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra.

Azer News: "...the concert was performed on the legendary Guarneri violin of 1715. In the hands of the young virtuoso, this unique instrument revealed its full sonic beauty, turning the performance into a true celebration of high art."

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

* * *

2026 Montreal International Music Competition-Violin Announces Five Finalists

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:54:27 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Late Sunday the Concours musical international de Montr�al (Montreal International Music Competition) announced five finalists for its 2026 Violin Edition.

Finalists in the 2026 Montreal International Music Competition-Violin. Photo courtesy of the Concours musical international de Montr�al.

The finalists are:

Koshiro Takeuchi, 21, of Japan
Laurel Gagnon, 30, of the United States
Sara Watanabe, 21, of Japan
Aozhe Zhang, 17, of China
Bade Dastan, 19, of Turkey and Belgium

The final round will take place in two phases. On Wednesday, the five finalists will perform in a Mozart round, in which they perform a complete violin concerto by Mozart. Three Grand Finalists will be named later that day, and those three will perform a violin concerto of their choice on Thursday. Both concerts will be performed at the Maison symphonique with the Orchestre symphonique de Montr�al and guest conductor Sascha Goetzel. You can find the livestream final round and also watch previous performances from this year's competition on-demand on this page (click here). Here are videos of the finalists, from their semi-final round: The jury for the 2026 Violin edition includes chair Lucie Robert, Ju-Young Baek, Glenn Dicterow, Simin Ganatra, Yuzuko Horigome, R�gis Pasquier, Barry Shiffman and Pavel Vernikov. You might also like:

2026 Montreal International Music Competition-Violin Announces 10 Semi-Finalists

Sat, 30 May 2026 01:33:02 GMT

By Laurie Niles: The Concours musical international de Montr�al (Montreal International Music Competition) has announced 10 semi-finalists for its 2026 Violin Edition, chosen from 24 violinists between the ages of 17 and 31, from 17 different countries who performed this week in the competition's first round.

Semi-finalists in the 2026 Montreal International Music Competition-Violin.

The semi-finalists are:

Yuki Hirano, 21, of Japan
Sijun Kim, 23, of South Korea
Koshiro Takeuchi, 21, of Japan
Hannah Tam, 20, of Hong Kong
Sara Watanabe, 21, of Japan
Michael Germer, 24, of Denmark
Bade Dastan, 19, of Turkey and Belgium
Laurel Gagnon, 30, of the United States
Aozhe Zhang, 17, of China
Yume Zamponi, 20, of Italy and Japan

Additionally two other prizes were awarded: the Baroque Prize was awarded to Koshiro Takeuchi for their performance of the Sonata for Solo Violin No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 by Johann Sebastian Bach; and the The Robert-Trempe Junior Jury Prize, selected by the Junior Jury presided by violinist Ana Drobac following the First Round, is awarded to Charlotte Spruit.

Baroque Prize winner Koshiro Takeuchi and Robert-Trempe Junior Jury Prize winner Ana Drobac, in the 2026 Montreal International Music Competition-Violin.

Semi-finalists will perform May 30 and 31 at Bourgie Hall, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, performing a program lasting a maximum of 55 minutes, including at least one complete sonata, a work by a Canadian composer, and one work of the performer's choice. Watch the livestream here, on the competition's website. Finals will take place June 3 and 4. Each violinist has the chance to win prizes and grants, exceeding a total value of $150,000. The jury for the 2026 Violin edition includes chair Lucie Robert, Ju-Young Baek, Glenn Dicterow, Simin Ganatra, Yuzuko Horigome, R�gis Pasquier, Barry Shiffman and Pavel Vernikov. * * *

For the Record, Op. 384: Vadim Gluzman, Catalyst Quartet, Ariana Kim, The Hands Free

Fri, 29 May 2026 19:12:23 GMT

Vadim GluzmanPhoto by Marco Borggreve.

Bach & Silvestrov Vadim Gluzman, violin Zachary Carrettin, violin Mina Gajic, piano and harpsichord COmpass REsonance (CORE), Zachary Carrettin, Music Director

Uncovered: Vol. 4: Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Catalyst Quartet Karla Donehew Perez, violin Abi Fayette, violin Paul Laraia, viola Karlos Rodriguez, cello

(un)common thread Ariana Kim, violin

Upturned Cup The Hands Free James Moore, guitar & banjo Caroline Shaw, violin Nathan Koci, accordion Eleonore Oppenheim, bass

* * *

Conversation with Next LA Phil Music Director Daniel Harding

Thu, 28 May 2026 22:28:23 GMT

By Laurie Niles: We all know the "Dude" - the Los Angeles Philharmonic's wildly popular conductor Gustavo Dudamel. But who exactly is Daniel Harding, Dudamel's newly-named successor? On Wednesday the LA Phil held a press conference at Walt Disney Concert Hall, where Harding, LA Phil CEO Kim Noltemy and Acting Concertmaster Bing Wang shared their thoughts about the LA Phil's history, current state of transition, and its future.

LA Phil President and CEO Kim Noltemy, new LA Phil Music Director Daniel Harding, and LA Phil Concertmaster Bing Wang.

But first - Dudamel started the proceedings with a few words about Harding: "Daniel is a good friend and an immense artist," he said. Dudamel is 45 and Harding is 50; both were tapped for their conducting talents at extremely young ages - Dudamel in Venezuela's "El Sistema" and then taking the helm in LA at age 26; and Harding as a 17-year-old assistant to British conductor Simon Rattle. Dudamel said he has been following Harding's career since childhood, and "now to have the chance to pass the baton to him is very emotional....I think our beloved Los Angeles Philharmonic is going to be in wonderful hands." For his part, Harding remembers Dudamel coming to London "as a kid," conducting the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, "and he just exploded on the scene." When Harding met Dudamel, he said he felt like "I've just met the most phenomenal personality, the most charismatic guy ever," Harding said. "So we've known each other for decades." "There are so many things about us that are opposite - and so many things that are really the same," Harding said. "In terms of priorities, passion, in terms of our love for music and musicians, we are brothers. And then there are different ways we express that - and different things that take our attention." With Dudamel remaining connected with the LA Phil as Artistic and Cultural Laureate and former Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen as Creative Director, the orchestra will remain connected with its past. "Gustavo and Esa-Pekka are such huge parts of the history of this orchestra," Harding said. "It's a massive gift for the orchestra, for the audience and for me - that they are still so devoted." So what are Harding's plans for the future of the orchestra? "In the beginning, my repertoire with the orchestra is going to be a mixture," Harding said. One element will be programming music "where the orchestra is unbeatable, where the orchestra feels so comfortable and everyone feels like, 'Who else in the world would you want to hear play this other than the LA Phil?'" On the other hand will be music "where we want to discover a language together, where we we say, 'this is something that's going to be a project = maybe even an excavation site!'" he said. It will be a varied and healthy diet - well maybe with a few indulgences, "Everyone likes an unhealthy diet from time to time!"

Conductor Daniel Harding.

Harding acknowledged the conflict in moving from the temporary gig of a guest conductor for an orchestra to becoming its full-time music director. "A guest conductor comes in and knows that in 48 hours, you have to get the best result possible," Harding said. "A guest conductor is someone who needs to find solutions to problems." On the other hand, as Music Director - "the goal isn't Thursday night," he said. "The goal is way down the road." As with fixing your car or a mechanical watch, "sometimes you need to take something apart to do the work that's going to make a difference over the long term. It requires a different knowledge of the people and the institution." The first time Harding guest-conducted the LA Phil was actually in 1997 - when he was just 21 years old - in a concert at the Ojai music festival. In more recent years, he conducted concerts at Disney Hall in 2024, and at the Hollywood Bowl in summer 2025. Concertmaster Bing Wang has been in the orchestra for 30 years, and she called this the "first-ever true search for the Music Director in the history of the LA Philharmonic." She said that the "openness to honesty and the respect that we showed each other was tremendous and so meaningful. As a musician I am so grateful that our board and our executive team understands musicians' voices, and the musicians' voices are so clearly represented today." Harding was chosen by a search committee of nine - including three musicians, three board members and three executives. Wang, who was one of the three musicians on the committee, said that every conductor over the last three years was evaluated by the orchestra members and given consideration as a potential candidate for the next Music Director. What was it that was compelling for the musicians, about Harding?

Daniel Harding, Bing Wang, Kim Noltemy and LA Phil Board Chair Jason Subotky.

It may not be obvious to an audience member who sees musicians only occasionally glancing up at the conductor, but actually the conductor "makes all the difference," Wang said. A rehearsal gives the musicians a sense - "Does this person need to talk a lot, or can this person just show us through gesture? - which is always a great sign." And then, what is the concert experience like? "How do we feel about Daniel? We feel immense connection and chemistry," Wang said. "From the two last performances with us, one at Walt Disney Concert Hall and one at the Hollywood Bowl last August. There is so much magic within the music-making, so much give-and-take." Wang turned to Harding: "You let us play, and you create those moments that transcend time and space - moment which takes everyone on stage and off stage into this amazing journey." "This was our experience with Daniel," Wang said. ""We look forward to Daniel continuing to inspire, motivate and challenge us, and to bring us to new heights and to bring us to broader communities and audiences." Harding said he is also looking forward to working with YOLA, Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, the educational program started by Dudamel which provides free instruments and intensive music instruction to children across the city. "I was blown away yesterday when I visited YOLA," he said. "I want to plug myself into that energy and do whatever I can to help. If we all want to have a future, everything we can do that the maximum amount of young people are touched by music, it's just brilliant." "I'm only here because of the incredible opportunities that were available when I was a kid in Oxford. I started in my local youth band and three different local youth orchestras," he said. "It was a golden time. Every child in the public school could learn an instrument. It was just something that was considered important and considered possible. We all had an instrument, we all played in orchestra, we all sang in choir. Partaking in music was just a normal part of life." "There were three of us who became professional musicians - and that means there were 97 others who did not. Maybe those are the people who are even more important than the professional musicians - they are the people who go to concerts. The people whose lives are enriched by their love for music and their knowledge of music." Harding said he finds endless discoveries in well-known works. "It's never the same, even with the same musicians, even in the same concert hall. You come back to something - the world is different, you're different," Harding said. "Our job as musicians is not to re-create a performance that we gave before or that somebody else gave, and it's not to try to give an answer that is definitive. What we do is that we come along and we put another piece on this three-dimensional puzzle so that all of us, as a musical community, start to get an impression of what this piece is, from every single perspective. A different orchestra, a different concert hall, a different week, it's always different." "But conducting is like dancing, in that you come and you exchange with your partner, and you never dance the same way twice." His job as conductor is to come with a clear idea, something beautiful, and the fervent desire to share that. "All I want is to recreate that beauty that I have in my head, so that I can say to everyone else, did you hear that? And the minute that you hear what I heard, we feel a connection." "But it's never going to end up as the thing that I had in my head at the beginning," he said, "because these 100 people in front of me - they will suggest things, and alter things. The one tiny suggestion from an oboe player, or the way the bass reacts - immediately changes the way I suggest the next thing. And this is the sensitivity of music-making." "The most wonderful thing is when you meet musicians who are open, and they look at you and say, 'I mastered my job, what have you got to offer?' And I suggest something and I propose something - and it's tennis, and it leads to something you couldn't have imagined before." You might also like:

* * *