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Editor's letter

Third time’s the charm for the superstar US

Making the grade

How much difference do graded music exams make to students’ performance in schools? A study in Italy has been attempting to find out

NEWS IN BRIEF

Violist wins Australian award bit.ly/405kVWd Australian violist

OBITUARIES

FELIX AYO Spanish violinist Felix Ayo has died

Tales of old

Irish folklore comes to life in a new quartet

COMPETITIONS

1 Animato Quartet 3 Luka Coetzee 4 Rilian

FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS & AWARDS

Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in Lyon,

APPOINTMENTS

US cellist Merry Peckham has been named the

A cellist’s best friend

ENDPIN

SOUND YOUR HORN

MUTE

SPEAK OUT

CELLO STRINGS

Life lessons

Philippe Quint

IMPERFECT IS OK

Having discovered a love of improvisation during the pandemic, cellist Simone Seales believes that the practice can free classically trained musicians from a typically unhealthy fear of imperfection

On high ground

Charlotte Gardner headed to the Swiss Alps for the Verbier Festival’s 30th-anniversary season where she was doubly dazzled by the combination of star players and the quality of the music-making

WHAT’S NEXT?

US violinist Anne Akiko Meyers speaks to Rita Fernandes about her Californian roots, lifelong hunger for commissioning new works, and determination to make a lasting impact on the future of new music

SHARING the TREASURE

When a long-lost set of Telemann bass viol fantaisies was found in a private collection a few years ago, Mikhail ‘Misha’ Galaganov set about arranging them for the viola. Here he explores the history of the works and reveals some of the challenges he encountered in his quest

FROM VATICAN TO VARNISH

The 19th-century violin maker Filippo de Filippi had an unusual route to his chosen career, taking in the Papal court, the Risorgimento and Rome’s cultural milieu. Stefano Pio explores his intriguing life

CHILDHOOD JOURNEYS

Violist Hiyoli Togawa speaks to Carlos María Solare about her latest recording, Children!, which mixes new music with Bach and is based around the themes of childhood memories and family love

A FRESH START

Taking on other people’s ex-pupils can be a tricky business – especially when they come with ingrained unhealthy habits. Focusing on upper strings, Alun Thomas outlines what may need to be addressed to make progress

RENAISSANCE MAN

As a luthier, musician, composer, teacher and successful businessman, Luigi Mozzani spread his talents far and wide. Lorenzo Frignani examines his eventful career, which produced all kinds of instruments

JAMES W. BRIGGS

IN FOCUS A close look at the work

Preparing a two-piece violin top

An accurate method for sawing and preparing tonewood before the main process of carving the plate

LUTHIER GIANMARIA STELZER

MY SPACE A peek into lutherie workshops around

Bringing it all back home

Dutch luthier Geerten Verberkmoes details the process of making a violin using local materials from his home town of Bergen op Zoom, between October 2022 and May 2023

DVOŘÁK CELLO CONCERTO FIRST MOVEMENT

MASTERCLASS

Comfort zone Finding effortless ways to play

TECHNIQUE

THIS MONTH’S RECOMMENDED RECORDINGS

Our pick of the new releases

New York/Philadelphia

Opening the season in style: Yo-Yo Ma with

London

DANISH QUARTET, JEREMY DENK (PIANO) WIGMORE HALL 15

Edinburgh

David Kettle reports on the string highlights of Nicola Benedetti’s inaugural season as the Edinburgh International Festival’s director

RECORDINGS

SOUL OF BRAZIL ASSAD Glitch JOBIM Four Songs

Maud Powell: Pioneer

American Violinist Karen A. Shaffer

Tourte

Paul Childs, Gabriel Schaff, Lucy Sante, Isaac Salchow

FEATURES INDEX 2023

PERFORMANCE & MUSIC 1–9 12 Cellists of the

From the ARCHIVE

Violin professor John Tiplady Carrodus (1836–95) exhorts students to show the same commitment to their craft that he did when he was a boy

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

1713 ‘Boissier, Sarasate’ Stradivari violin An in-depth look

ILYA GRINGOLTS

The Romance in F minor for violin and orchestra was the first piece by Dvořák that the Russianborn violinist ever played – and a passport into the composer’s unique harmonic sound world