Joe Bein Will Leave Bein & Fushi Fine Violin Shop to Open Bein & Company
Joe Bein announced Monday on Facebook that "after nearly 20 years of being an employee at Bein & Fushi, I...will be leaving to open Bein & Company."
Fine instrument dealer Joe Bein.
Joe Bein is the son of the late Robert Bein, who in 1976 founded the well-known violin shop Bein & Fushi with the late Geoffrey Fushi. The downtown Chicago shop deals in high-end fine violins and stringed instruments and has had many famous clients such as Ruggiero Ricci, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gidon Kremer, Lynn Harrell, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Nigel Kennedy, and Ko Iwasaki. The shop is also associated with the Stradivari Society, which lends high-end instruments to performing artists.
As their website implies, the two founders had different but complementary skill sets: Robert Bein had a photographic memory that allowed him to identify instruments at a glance, while Geoffrey Fushi was a master at matching musician and instrument. Robert Bein passed away in 2007, and Fushi in 2012.
On Monday, Joe Bein delivered the following statement on Facebook: "I'm leaving Bein & Fushi today to open up Bein & Company. I will finally get an opportunity to carry on my father's legacy and be an owner of a highly trusted and professional rare stringed instrument business."
"After nearly two decades at the forefront of the musical world, with incredible proximity to not only artists but great instruments, I am convinced that now is definitely my time. I want to thank all of the incredible artists, clients, teachers, family, friends who note only inspired me but also encouraged me to walk down this road. I of course also would like to thank the owners and the staff of Bein & Fushi."
"Today, the musical community is facing incredible peril. And so my goal is not only to bring back the expertise, and the trust and the integrity that my father instilled in me, but also do everything I can to help shape the future for classical musicians of every level."
You might also like:
- The Stradivari Society: Connecting Performing Artists with Highly-Valued Instruments
- Stradivari Society Co-Founder Geoffrey Fushi (1944-2012), of Bein and Fushi
- Playing the 'Vieuxtemps' Guarneri del Gesù and an ex-Nachèz Strad
Replies
Yes, the reason for this is as clear as mud to me - What's going on? Is this just a roundabout way of saying he's changing the name of his business?
I had a chance to visit B & F - Joe was very professional and friendly
Got to play a strad, learn about that fiddle, and play two high end violins for comparison. All that - even when Joe knew I was a lifelong violin amateur and an educator with no resources to buy at that level.
I will never forget the experience and the kindness.
I wish him the very best !!!!!
Gary
Joe is a superb person, and I wish him all the luck in his new venture.
Joe has been helpful and kind in all my interactions with him - I also wish him the best.
Having known Joe Bein all his life, and his father and grandfather before him, I would like to add to these comments from that viewpoint. Joe Bein will bring to this new endeavor a fresh perspective grounded in integrity of the highest order. The honesty that has been the hallmark of his career up to this point will serve him well in his new enterprise, and we can all look forward to his emerging as one of the best, and I expect, one of the most trusted, and therefore most highly respected, young leaders in his chosen profession. He is an astute student of the history of violin making and knows well the intricate world of fine instrument dealers. He will carry on his father’s legacy of the highest scholarship and regard for the authenticity of the rare instruments that pass through his hands.
David Jones
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Violinist.com is made possible by...
Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases
Thomastik-Infeld's Dynamo Strings
Violinist.com Summer Music Programs Directory
ARIA International Summer Academy
Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins
Laurie's Books
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
July 14, 2020 at 09:05 AM · Makes me curious, who *are* the current owners of Bein & Fushi? Anyway, I interacted with Joe Bein when visiting the Bein&Fushi shop four years ago. He is a very very nice person.