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Canada Council Announces 2018 Instrument Bank Recipients of Violins and Cellos
On Wednesday the Canada Council for the Arts announced 18 violinists and five cellists who will each receive a three-year loan of a fine instrument from the Council's Musical Instrument Bank. Congratulations to all!
The 2018 recipients include:
VIOLIN
- Heemin Choi: 1768 Miller Januarius Gagliano violin
- Emma Meinrenken: 1689 Baumgartner Stradivarius violin
- Eva Aronian: ca. 1700 Bell Giovanni Tononi violin
- Christopher Whitley: 1700 Taft Stradivarius violin
- Lucy Wang: 1715 Dominicus Montagnana violin
- Aaron Timothy Chooi: 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius violin
- Blake Pouliot: 1729 Guarneri del Gesù violin
- Bora Kim: 1747 Palmason Januarius Gagliano violin
- Maia Cabeza: 1750 Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi violin
- Clara J. Lee: 1768 Antonio Gragnani violin
- Emmanuel Vukovich: ca. 1798 Gagliano violin bearing a label of ‘Joseph and Antonius Gagliano’
- Christina Bouey: 1820 Joannes Franciscus Pressenda violin
- Ji Soo Choi: c.1830-1850 Eckhardt-Gramatte Joachim Georges Chanot I violin
- Carissa Klopoushak: 1851 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin
- Byungchan Lee: 1869 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin (with Vuillaume model bow)
- Jasmine (Mengjia) Lin: 1871 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin
- Emily Kruspe: 1900 Stefano Scarampella violin
- Amy Hillis: 1902 Enrico Rocca violin
CELLO
- Albert Seo: 1702 Giovanni Grancino cello
- Se-Doo Park: 1730 Newland Joannes Franciscus Celoniatus cello
- Bryan Cheng: ca. 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius cello; ca. 1830 Shaw Adam cello bow
- Cameron Crozman: A Spanish cello attributed to Joannes Guillami of Barcelona, Spain and bearing a label dated ca. 1769
- Grace Sohn: 1824 McConnell Nicolaus Gagliano II cello
Every three years, Canadian professional classical musicians can compete for a chance to borrow one of the 20 fine instruments from the Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank (MIB), which was established in 1985. The instruments include violins, cellos and bows -- collectively valued at more than $50 million. Eligible musicians must first submit a written application and recording, then finalists come to Toronto for live auditions and interviews. Applicants may receive a maximum of three Musical Instrument Bank loans of three years each. Past recipients include Lara St, John, James Ehnes, Judy Kang, Martin Beaver, and more. For more information about applying, click here.
Replies
How do they decide who gets what instrument? Also do all violinists have such white teeth?
Eligible musicians must first submit a written application and recording, then finalists come to Toronto for live auditions and interviews. Applicants may receive a maximum of three Musical Instrument Bank loans of three years each.
Beautiful smiles all around, it is true. :)
Laurie, I think Paul Deck was asking a slightly different question, because it is the same question I have: How is it decided which specific instrument goes to a qualified recipient. For instance, once qualified, can the recipient play some of the violins and pick one they like the best, or perhaps it is a random drawing among the recipients? Any light you can shed on that process will be greatly appreciated.
Yes, Annabel, that's what I was asking.
They didn't really say but I'll see if they have any more details on that.
Okay here is an answer, from Mireille Allaire, a spokeswoman for the Instrument Bank:
"When choosing the winners, the jury assigns a priority ranking for instrument selection. This is the order that they get to pick the instruments in. The jury does not select instruments for the winners, nor can the finalists make any requests for certain instruments ahead of their turn."
Here's a good article about the whole process:
I wonder if your count goes up when you are offered a chance to pick, or when you actually sign on the dotted line and take one home. Maybe everyone who wins a chance always takes an instrument, even if not perhaps perfectly suited to them...
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September 26, 2018 at 11:40 PM · Great to see that all of Emily Kruspe's practice has paid off!
No offense intended -- this is still one of the best videos on YouTube. I'm sure she is well deserving of the instrument loan.