Old string instruments

[B_cereus]

How do the young professional violinists or cellists afford their Strad/Guanerius/Montagnana etc that most of them seem to play on? Do they get a bank loan, and then spend years playing as many concerts as they can to pay for it?

[12tone.]

I think what happens is that they don't exactly own these 'strad' instruments but museums do, and as such only loan them out accordingly to certain players.  That's only my guess.

Other than that?  Read this:


[text below from link]:



"Ottawa, 10 September 1997 - The Canada Council for the Arts is pleased to announce that Lara St. John, from London, Ontario, and Judy Kang, from Edmonton, are the winners of the competition for the loan of two Stradivarius violins from the Canada Council for the Arts' Musical Instrument Bank. The two violinists were presented with their instruments by Donna Scott, Chairman of the Canada Council, today at a news conference and reception held in The Great Hall of the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto.

In congratulating the winners, Donna Scott also paid tribute to the members of the competition jury for their skill and hard work, and thanked the anonymous donor who loaned the two magnificent violins to the Musical Instrument Bank. "I am very proud that the Canada Council for the Arts has been given the privilege of administering the loan of these exceptional instruments, and I am very glad that these two gifted young Canadian violinists will have the opportunity to use them as they further what promise to be brilliant concert careers."

The two instruments, the 1689 Baumgartner Stradivarius (awarded to Judy Kang) and the 1702 Lyall Stradivarius (awarded to Lara St. John), together with a 1729 Guarneri del Gesù, were sold earlier this year by the University of Western Ontario to a US business person. The purchaser, who does not wish to be identified, has generously offered to loan the instruments to the Council's Musical Instrument Bank for a two-year period. The competition for the third violin will be held at a later date as it is currently undergoing restoration.

In his letter of congratulations to the winners, the donor said, "When I purchased the violins from the University of Western Ontario this spring, I had many reasons for wanting to take them from the vault where they had lain "asleep" and unplayed for years. My friend, Norm Hathaway, who loves violins and music as much as I do, convinced me that my investment would reap wonderful dividends by "awakening" these instruments, putting them in the talented hands of Canadian violinists and allowing the Canadian public to hear them once again."

The competition jury comprised Montreal cellist Denis Brott, who holds the Canada Council's 1706 Brott-Turner Tecchler cello and was a key figure in getting the Instrument Bank started; Angèle Dubeau, an internationally acclaimed violinist who has her own Stradivarius; and Jacques Israelievitch, concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jury members selected the two winners from among five finalists, and determined which violin was best suited to each of the two musicians. In its decision, the jury had the following remarks about Lara St. John: "Today we have heard one of the great violinists of our times. Inspirational!" In its comments on Judy Kang, the jury stated: "This is a highly talented young violinist who is already showing artistic potential of a very high level.""


And then this too, from same link:



"Competitions for the loan of instruments from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank are held as instruments become available, upon their acquisition or at the end of a loan period.

The Musical Instrument Bank of the Canada Council was created in 1987 as a means of acquiring quality instruments to be used by established or gifted young musicians to help further their international careers as soloists or members of a chamber ensemble. The first instrument acquired by the Instrument Bank was the Brott-Turner-Tecchler cello, on loan to Denis Brott for the duration of his career. The 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius, the Bank's second acquisition, was donated by Leon Weinstein to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, then transferred to the Council's Musical Instrument Bank in 1988. James Ehnes, a violinist from Brandon, Manitoba, was the winner of the 1994 and 1997 competitions for the three-year loan of the Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius."