In part two of my conversation with Gregg Alf, we talk about the day to day life of the violin maker, including the harvesting of tone wood, and what it takes to sell violins in today's world. We also discuss the differences between handmade violins and factory-made violins and Gregg finishes with an unusual story about an antique table and the making of a violin.
In 2015, Paula and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by visiting the city of Venice. While there, we had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Gregg Alf, one of the most highly respected violin makers in the world today. Steeped in the history of the violin and possessing remarkable violin making skills, Gregg also brings to his work a spiritual sensibility befitting these mysterious and enchanting instruments.
Joshua Bell is one of the most respected solo violinists in the world today. He also serves as the music director of the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields. I interviewed Mr. Bell backstage after he performed a special Mother's Day concert with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra in 2018.
Tom Barr was one of the first people I interviewed for the Rosin the Bow project. He grew up in Grayson County in the mountains of southwestern Virginia where he now makes violins and banjos and runs a music store in the town of Galax with his son Stevie. Tom learned the art of violin making from Albert Hash who taught many violin makers in that part of the Appalachian Mountains. Tom has also worked as a labor union organizer fighting to improve the lives of working people.
In part 2 of my interview with Mr. Canin, he talks about his career in music including auditioning for the San Francisco Symphony and playing for motion pictures in Hollywood.
Stuart Canin is one of the most respected violinists in the world today. I interviewed the 91 year old Mr. Canin at his home in Berkeley, California. Having served as concert master for the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Opera, and numerous film score composers such as John Williams and Randy Newman, Mr. Canin, with a $2 violin, also played his part in world history at the conclusion of World War II.
Chris Haddox is a fiddler, luthier, and professor of environmental studies and West Virginia University. He is also the owner of a violin made in the mountains of West Virginia the early part of the 20th century by a blind violin maker named Tommy Doolittle. Here Chris tells the story about the fiddle and his own experiences being an old-time fiddler.
In the spring of 2015, Paula and I visited Florence, Italy, to interview a family of violin makers. Paolo Vettori is the patriarch of the family who learned to make violins from his father Dario Vettori. Three of his grown children now also make violins with him in his shop. In this podcast I feature my conversation with Paolo and his son Dario II and daughter Sophia. Spending the day with this lovely lovely family in the beautiful city of Florence was an experience my wife Paula and I will neve...
In 2016 I visited Greensboro, North Carolina, to interview Russian-born violinist and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky and attend a special concert featuring Mr. Sitkovetsky and violinist Pinchas Zukerman and his wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth. He talked about his famous musical parents, his musical training in the former Soviet Union, his Stradivari violin, and what it takes to find beauty and meaning in life.
In part 2 of my interview with Fan Tao, head of research and development for the D'Addario Musical String Company, Fan talks about how his family came to the United States from Taiwan. He also talks about the history of the D'Addario family who came to the United States from Italy at the turn of the 20th century. The interview ends with Fan giving me a tour of the D'Addario factory in Long Island, NY.
Noel Burke is one of the world's leading violin bow makers. He is also the younger brother of noted traditional Irish fiddle player Kevin Burke. I visited Noel at his home in County Carlow in Ireland to find out what it takes to become a bow maker and the vital role the bow plays in the making of music.
Fan Tao is head of research and development for the D'Addario Musical Strings Company based in Farmingdale, New York. He is also past president of the Violin Society of America. I interviewed Fan at the D'Addario factory in June, 2015, to learn as much as I could about the history and technology of strings for the violin family of instruments. Here is part one of that interview.
Joseph Kromholz is a violinist and professor of violin and viola at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. I interviewed Mr. Kromholz in the fall of 2015 and we discussed many aspects of playing and teaching the violin, along with the strong connection that exists between the violin and Jewish culture.
Clay Jenkinson is an acclaimed humanities scholar with a deep knowledge about the life and work of Thomas Jefferson, a paragon of the enlightenment whose many interests and passions included playing the violin. Along with offering a unique perspective on this fascinating part of Jefferson's life, Clay weighs in the cultural and political changes taking place in modern society.
In part two of my interview with Irish fiddler Kevin Burke, we explore the relationship between the violin and the electric guitar. He also talks about how he acquired his violin and his bow, the latter a gift from his brother Noel Burke, a renowned violin maker living in Ireland who I later interviewed. He also reflects on the demands made upon the traveling musician, as well as the rewards.
Kevin Burke has been a mainstay of the traditional Irish music scene since the early 1970s. He has performed with groups such as the Bothy Band, Patrick Street, Celtic Music Festival, and Open House. Born and raised in London, Kevin now lives in Portland, Oregon, where I interviewed him in 2017. In part one of this podcast, he talks about his eccentric classical violin teacher and a chance meeting with Arlo Guthrie in the west of Ireland that led to him recording several fiddle tracks on Arlo's ...
In 2015, Paula and I visited Cremona, Italy, the city where the great masters of violin making, Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri, once lived and worked. Thanks to the establishment of a violin making school in Cremona in the 1930s, a hundred and fifty violin makers now call the city their home. Israeli-born Yael Rosenblum is one of the them. She is also a skilled string player and this, along with being a woman, provides her with unique insights into what it means to be a luthier in the world tod...
Vermont-born fiddler and songwriter Pete Sutherland has been a mainstay of the old-time music scene for many years. I first met Pete in the early 1980s when we both served on the faculty of the Augusta Heritage Program in Elkins, WV. I later caught up with him at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA, where we sat down for a chat about the instrument and music we love.
In this second part of the conversation I had with Eric Funk, he talks about the inspiration and creative process behind his concerto A Violin Alone in which a solo violinist not only plays the part of the violin but uses his instrument to mimic all the other instruments in the orchestra. And there is more philosophy as well concerning the special role music plays in our lives.
While attending a wedding in Bozeman, Montana, I had the good fortune to interview Eric Funk, musician, conductor, and celebrated composer. Eric is also a professor of music at Montana State University and hosts an Emmy award-winning music and culture program for Montana Public Television.
David Balakrishnan is a gifted violinist and founding member of the Turtle Island String Quartet. He is also a composer who draws upon a variety of musical traditions to create works that are both fresh and enduring. I recorded this interview at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015.
Aaron Allen is a professor of musicology and environmental studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In this podcast, he looks at the impact instrument making and cultural assumptions about music impact the natural world, the trees, animals, and minerals that make musical instruments possible.
Michael Gray is a violinist and composer living in the Pacific Northwest who has performed with the gypsy-jazz inspired combo Pearl Django for many years. I interviewed Michael in 2015 at the Wintergrass Music Festival.
Eugene Friesen is a cellist who has performed as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for many years often exploring the musical possibilities of playing inside sacred spaces such as the Grand Canyon and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine or accompanying animals such as whales and wolves. A four-time Grammy award-winner, he teaches at the Berklee School of Music in Boston where I interviewed him in 2017.
Husband and wife duo Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are award-winning Canadian fiddle players. Natalie grew up on Cape Breton Island and Donnell grew up in Ontario. They have seven children and, when not out on tour, they work on their cattle ranch. I interviewed Natalie and Donnell when they came to perform at the Washington Center for the Arts.
Michael Cleveland was born blind but he fell in love with the violin as a young child when he heard a recording of the fiddle tune Orange Blossom Special. “I want to play that,” he told himself and, with the help of his parents and teachers at a school for the blind, that’s exactly what he did, and a whole bunch of other tunes as well. Named fiddler of the year six times in a row by the International Bluegrass Music Association, Michael performs with his group Flamekeeper. I interviewed Michael ...
Fine violins and cellos are more than musical instruments; they are also visual works of art. They exist in the visual art world in other ways as well. In 2015, I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, where I was given a tour of the collection by Stephen Ackert, former curator of music, and Bruno Nasta, a jazz violinist who organizes the concert series that takes place each year inside the National Gallery. Stephen and Bruno showed me a number of paintings from antiquity to the ...
Nadine Landry was born into a musical family in the province of Quebec in Canada. She is a member of the Foghorn Stringband and is married to the band’s fiddler, Stephen “Sammy” Lind. I interviewed Nadine when the band performed at the Oly Old-time Music Festival in Olympia, Washington, in 2015.
The Rosin the Bow project got its start thanks in large part to bow maker and violin dealer and shop owner Robert Ray in Olympia, Washington. Bob’s fascination with the history of the violin and the art of bow making inspired me to go in search of stories about this remarkable family of instruments and the people who love them.
Zoe Conway is a gifted young musician living in Ireland. Steeped in the traditional fiddle music of her native land, she is also an accomplished classical violinist. I interviewed Zoe while attending the Clifden Arts Festival that is held each September in a lovely seaside town in Connemara in the west of Ireland. Zoe’s performance of a composition by Bill Whelan with the national RTE Orchestra is one I shall not soon forget.
