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Name that alpaca -- after a violinist!

July 7, 2011 at 10:56 PM

Occasionally I get some unusual e-mail in my capacity as editor of Violinist.com. For example, yesterday: 

"My wife and I raise alpacas, and every year we named them after artists. This year we've decided that we would like to use violinists. Our first cria (baby) is a female, so we would like to see a comprehensive list of female violinists. Where can we go to see such a list?

Thank you, Tom & Tsulan Balka,  Lavender Fields Alpacas, Elizabeth, CO"

Here is the newborn alpaca that they'd like to name after a violinist:

Awwww! Shall we help them out? I'm all for anything that promotes violinists, and the art of violin!

Historic female violinists:

Maude Powell

Lady Wilhelmina Hallé

Wilma Neruda

Living female violinists:

Hilary Hahn

Anne-Sophie Mutter

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

Regina Carter

Rachel Barton Pine

...and in case any male alpacas join the mix:

Historical male violinists:

Nicolo Paganini

Jascha Heifetz

Isaac Stern

Living male violinists:

Ruggiero Ricci

Itzhak Perlman

Joshua Bell

Gil Shaham

Any other suggestions for Tom and Tsulan?

Tweet

 My vote is Hilary! 

Also:

Sarah Chang

Nurit Bar Josef (concertmaster of National Sym.)

Leila Josefowicz

Clara Jumi-Kang

 

 Sedra Lynn Rose Bistodeau

Alex DePue

Wallace DePue

Jason DePue

Zach DePue

 

Haha, awesome. I'm hoping to eventually get my list up on my website...when I do, I'll have a list of about 200 female violinists born pre-1920...that's a lot of alpacas.

As for names, I like Stefi (Geyer) and Teresina (Tua)!

  I think both Midori (Goto) and Akiko (Suwanai) have to be on this list for the first alpaca!

Lisa Batiashvili

 how about a violist!? Rebecca Clarke? :P

I do like Hilary though

 Jelly d'Arayni

Naoko, Sayaka, Akiko (Terai, Shoji, Suwanai) — as you can see, I have a great affection for Japanese violinists. ;-) Also, Isabelle and Wanda (Faust and Wilkomirska), the last one due to my heritage.

Name her Ricci!

Ginette Neveu!! Ida Haendel is also a great historic (and still alive) violinist, but I prefer French names. I'm pretty sure Neveu is pronounced Ne-voo as my teacher is French and that's how he says it. It just rolls off the tongue!

 Alma Rose!

Isabelle Faust.

Rachel Podger

She looks like a Hilary to me.

How about Regina Strinassachi?

 

 There were a healthy number of ideas from the V.com Facebook page, too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Violinistcom/100897636577?ref=ts

For example, Leila (Josefowitz, I love her name!).

I will let everyone know what they decide! More pictures to come...

P.S. The cria's mom, or "dam," is "Emily Bronte"! 

Hilary Hahn, though I like to think Hilary's prettier than an alpaca!

Living male violinists:

Chuan Yun Li

Nikolai Znaider

For a female alpaca, the name Hilary Hahn gets my vote!

Some more historical male violinists: Eugene Ysaye, Fritz Kreisler, Nathan Milstein, David Oistrakh, Christian Ferras, Mischa Elman, Zino Francescatti, Leonid Kogan...if you wanted to include composers who were also violinists, that opens a whole other field. Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadaus Mozart, to name a few. 

Personally, I think the name Eugene or Fritz would suit an alpaca perfectly. :)

I vote for Hilary Hahn