Remembering Dr. William Sloan (1941-2025)
I'll never forget the first time I met Dr. William Sloan in person - because he immediately sent me on one of my life's most memorable and improbable adventures.
It was 2010, and Dr. Sloan showed up at the door of my Pasadena condo carrying a well-worn Gorge double-violin case, wearing his characteristic smile, fedora and a twinkle in his eye.
I invited him inside. Dr. Sloan then opened the case to reveal his two most prized worldly possessions: the 1714 "Leonora Jackson" Stradivari violin, and a 1742 Guarneri del Gesù violin (now named for him - the "Sloan.") Precious, irreplaceable, and valued together in the multiple millions. He was to leave this case with me, and then I would carry the two violins on an airplane from Los Angeles to Indianapolis. He needed me to deliver the instruments for use in a blind test of modern vs. fine old Italian violins at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis - I'd be arriving there before he could.
Dr. Sloan had been a Violinist.com reader for some time, and the Indianapolis competition's Executive Director Glen Kwok had suggested I might be a trustworthy violin mule for this task. I was nervous, for sure!
Dr. Sloan assured me all would be well (he was assuring me?) - the old Gorge case was both sturdy and inconspicuous. Just put it in the overhead compartment, he said with a smile. Completely agog with this task and with the ravishing instruments now in my charge, I assured him that I would guard them with my life. "I'm sure you will," he said. "I'll see you in Indianapolis!"
I've never been so on-alert for a plane trip! I managed to deliver the violins safely, and they thus became part of that storied experiment.
But more than that, I'd made a new friend - someone whose passion for the violin infected everyone in his orbit, and whose quiet decency in his human interactions was a perpetual lesson in grace.
Dr. William Sloan - Bill - passed away on Friday at age 84, after a long struggle with cancer. He was at home, with his wife, Judy, and two daughters at his side.
His departure feels like the passing of an era. When it came to the violin, Dr. Sloan was seemingly everywhere, supplying his limitless enthusiasm, deep knowledge and unyielding support.
He also brought a much-needed sense of fun and adventure to our little violin world: this was the Jewish man who held a "Messiah" sing-along in his living room every Boxing Day for more than 40 years. (Followed by lox and bagels for all!) He was a surgeon who late in life learned to make violins - and made seven of them. The renowned collector Dave Fulton said that it was his dear friend Bill who was "truly responsible for my becoming a collector."
Born in Chicago, Bill began taking violin lessons in elementary school and played in his school orchestra at Lake View High School. He went on to become a surgeon by profession, earning his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Chicago, where he also played first violin in the University Symphony Orchestra. That's also where he met his wife, Judy Beckner Sloan, a pianist who was studying music theory. Dr. Sloan specialized in urology and kidney transplants, and Judy went on to become a law professor. The two settled in Toledo, Ohio, then eventually moved to Los Angeles.
Toledo is where Dr. Sloan was living when he reconnected with David Fulton, whom he'd met back in Chicago, both of them playing in the University Orchestra. The two hit it off, and Fulton became swept up in Dr. Sloan's quest to own a Stradivari violin, literally coming along for the ride when Dr. Sloan drove up to Chicago's Bein & Fushi to look at fine violins. In 1982, Dr. Sloan purchased his first Strad, the 1727 "Holroyd," (and Fulton started his collection!) Dr. Sloan eventually traded in the "Holroyd" and bought the "Leonora" Strad and Guarneri del Gesù, which he kept for the rest of his life.
Toledo also is where Bill and Judy started their tradition of hosting local musicians on December 26 to play Handel’s Messiah.
The tradition was still going strong when I joined it for the first time, back in 2010. They now lived in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, in a beautiful home that had been previously owned by a former principal cellist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As I climbed the hill to their house, I could hear trumpets, then violins, violas and cellos, then singing... their home was filled with musicians.
Messiah 2012 - Dr. Sloan at far left, and conductor Frank Fetta far right.
I was one of a handful of people he actually called that year – the other 60-plus musicians simply showed up, having come in years previous and knowing where to flock and when. I kept coming back, and eventually I had the best seat in the house: sitting next to Bill to lead the second fiddles! Those parties often went on well after the Messiah and bagels, sometimes lasting deep into the night, with Dr. Sloan allowing people to borrow his famous violins and play chamber music.
Laurie Niles and Dr. Bill Sloan, Messiah second fiddles.
At age 65, a time when most people look to retirement, Dr. Sloan not only continued in his practice as a surgeon, but he also started on a completely new venture: making violins. He was first encouraged by Claremont luthier James Brown, who helped him buy his first tools and get started on his first violin. "He was a great student because of his surgeon’s steady hands," Brown said. After completing Brown's Violin Maker’s workshop in Claremont, Calif. Dr. Sloan traveled to Ohio to continue what he had started at the Oberlin Violin Makers Workshop. He repeated this two-workshop pattern every summer for the next 14 years, giving him the opportunity to study the art of violin-making with storied modern makers such as Joseph Curtin, Gregg Alf and Chris Germain. In turn, he gave the violin makers the opportunity to study the famous instruments he owned.
Dr. Sloan used his own Guarneri del Gesù as a model for his violins - and so he affectionately called the instruments he made "Sloaneri" violins. He generously loaned me the use his second violin - "Sloaneri 2" - when my own violin was being restored. I enjoyed its beautiful sound, as well as the knowledge that my friend had made this violin. Judy told me that he had made a total of seven violins.
And I can't neglect to mention, I also did have the thrill of getting to play on the "Jackson" Stradivari for a small performance, a violin-testing concert given for the benefit of violin makers. I played the first movement of the Bach Double with Elizabeth Pitcairn, who played her own "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivari - a humbling experience! It was challenging to simply pick it up and play it - it needed to be coaxed, and Elizabeth gave me some impromptu tips before we went on stage.
He could have kept his invaluable violins under lock and key, but Dr. Sloan allowed so many people - from Phil Setzer, Philippe Quint, Oleh Krysa and many other famous violinists - to regular orchestra musicians and amateurs - to play the fine instruments he owned. It was a very special experience that he was not just willing, but eager to share.
I will deeply miss Dr. Sloan, we all will. One of Dr. Sloan's very many friends, the Nashville-based violinist Ross Holmes (who played one of those "Sloaneri" violins on the stage at the Grand Old Opry!), summed it well: "It amazes me how such a small thing, a fiddle, can bring such diverse communities into shared space, how the joy of such a small thing might bind us together through peace and love. In all of my conversations with Bill, THIS was the spirit that translated from his heart to mine. His detailed knowledge of instruments and makers was impressive, but conversation would always shift from the physical 'thing' to the spiritual 'idea' and how the product of our instruments, the music in the air, was the most marvelous gift to receive."
A memorial service is being planned for November, I will posted details here when they become available.
Please feel free to share your own thoughts and memories in the comments.
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In writing this memorial for Bill, I came across this beautiful video, made by Cristian Coldea for World Trailblazers, in which Dr. Sloan talks about his life, making violins, and more. Please enjoy.
You might also like:
- Hallelujah, Let's Play the 'Messiah'!
- Happy 300th Birthday to the 'Leonora Jackson' Stradivari Violin
- Elizabeth Pitcairn Plays Fine Violins for Violin Makers
- Testing the Sloan Strad and del Gesù Violins with Hao Zhou and Lucy Wang
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Replies
Great memories: Dr Sloan was clearly a wonderful person!
As from Violinist/Apostle of Heifetz-Milstein {#3}
Although I did not meet Dr. Sloan, I knew of him and of his kindness to So Many Musicians out West and here in the Midwest. I am deeply sorry, dear Laurie, for your huge loss of a grand friend and for your loving Tribute to a great coinesseur of The Violin playing it while also making some and loving his nickname for his own violins he made &
named 'Sloaneri'!! I Loved reading about this and feel deprived not ever meeting such a kind plus caring musician who happened to be a Doctor yet more involved in The World of Violin and Violins than most!!
Please accept my sincere Condolences to You, dear Laurie ... It really hurts losing a friend & so loving and so generous with all his life and good works returned back to himself ... I am sure all Los Angeles Violinists & String Cousins are dimmed in sunshine due the passing of The Gardener of String Greatness making Violins and in playing Great Instruments to then rare share all with so many lovable Others ...
May Dr. Sloan meet Master's Antonio Stradivari & Guarneri del Gesu 'Up There' w/God Looking On to Grand and glorious Conversation on Violins!!
~ Yours very sincerely with Condolences on your Loss ~
................... Elisabeth Matesky ...................
Fwd ~ dmg {Save V.com/Laurie's Grand Friend, Dr. Sloan w/Sloaneri's} {#3}
A Post Script re a closed too soon Article on Shostakovich #1 Violin Concerto in a minor, Opus 99 ~ as from American Violinist, having a while ago recorded Shostakovich Violin Concerto #1 in a minor and dedicated to 'King' David Oistrakh, Great Soviet born Violinist, Master Interpreter of Shostakovich Two Violin Concerti #1 & #2, also dedicated to revered Grand Violinist, David Oistrakh ~ {#4 but ?} on yet I hadn't knowledge of Blog now closed but with respect add a few of my own observations knowing this grand Masterwork for Violin most well to add my honour in recording this work with the Bamberger Symphoniker w/Grand Russian Conductor and Violist, Rudolph Barshai, in Bamberg's storied 13th Century Abbey with glory acoustics so fabled one stopped in mid stream to listen to the playbacks just to hear the Sounds of a Grand German Orchester and a wondrous Concert Violin fused together ...
Having little notice of the Recording Premiere of my first major Violin Concerto with a wonderful German Orchestra, fabled to be just a tad bit of musical behind HvK's Berliner Philharmoniker, I was astonished walking in to the Fabled 13th Century Abbey the Bamberger Symphoniker did make most of their recordings in for decades! Eyeing The Expanded Double Basso Section from 8 to 12 Double Basses was an awe inspiring moment in one's expanding Concert Touring Career and hearing the weight Of and low sounding lushness of this "Virtuoso" Double Basso Section was almost to me paralyzing due their fused Combination of In Sync Mastery in the Thematic material and so matured it gave me goosebumps being the Artist engaged to offer the Solo Violin Saga!!
I learned much about Composer, Dmitri Shostakovich and his bizarre times being mocked and ostracized by the Soviet Regime with close friend, Alexander Sohszenitzen on his Side and then always defending Shostakovich the detested or saying so, by Russian Premier beating down on his glorious Compositions for All Mankind. I read one account of the Full 1st Violin Concerto Opening 1st Mvt, being airy and 'in water' or something akin? It never ever occurred to me, yours truly to think of The Dark and deeply set emotional pouring forth of truly and depressed Emotive themes which the Solo Violin encounters and actually leads with hopes that all strings will follow as similarly offered ... I also identified a Spiritual Theme throughout this Opening which is a Declaration of Shostakovich's Quest for Truth Freedom he so desired yet being restrained from open dialogue or open emotional expression by those who Ruled over All "Peasants" thought to be by vicious little minds of many yet questing deep inside themselves for Wonders heard of in The West ...
Later, after our recording for Sudwestdeutsche Rundfunk was completed I heard the Son of Dmitri Shostakovich, *Maxim Shostakovich in the Conductor Role here in Grant Park one Summer and shyly went up and to backstage having several students in the Summer Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and actually meeting Maxim Shostakovich having an earnest Chat with the Son of Titan, Dmitri Shostakovich, his Father!! It was such a consequential discussion and in English for Maxim did speak English very well living on East Coast at that time and writing on the Front of my Piano Reduction Score of his father's 1st Violin Concerto in a minor in Russian also inviting me to work call him in his Eastern Office to then continue our to me fascinating conversation about the Violin Concerto dedicated to The Great David Oistrakh and about all the Events and occurrences which led to his Father's particularly dark yet increasing by the Fugueism of Passacaglia Mvt #3 into finally transgressing into the Fourth & Final movement a Powerhouse of Joy let go in a Live let out emotional Hurrah for Freedoms yearned for and sought which in the Finale of the Heroic Fourth Movement erupts into a Volcanic Ash of Liberation from the Oppressions suffered by Composer Dmitri Shostakovich readied to Explode as did superb Violinist, Julian Rachlin in a Live and beyond Brilliant "Shout Out" to US Freedoms in Carnegie Hall One Night in 2023 or 2024 letting loose all J. R. felt and shouting YES so loudly the Sold Out CH Audience yelled back and In Sync with the exceptional rhythmic sense of Rachlin and I will add my own then enthusiasm for the Heroic Last Movement and Finale Mvt of Victory which Is Owned by Dmitri Shostakovich and his Son Conductor Maxim in The End and the Carnegie Hall Audience Never Heard nor Saw This ever and it is still talked about to right now with myself not having any iota of any wistfulness I did not Shout Out in our recording but it was a different place and my father was fighting to Live in a West Coast of America Hospital whilst his daughter was in Bamberg recording an "Ode" to my brilliant father-teacher Ralph Matesky until Heifetz's Invite to be in his Just 7 Original Pupils in Jascha Heifetz's Violin Master Classes at USC's Institute for Special Music Studies with Heifetz; Piatigorsky and William Primrose on Friday Afternoons Chamber Music but in this storied Shostakovich Violin Concerto #1 which after our recording found its way into every Concert Artist's On Tour Repertoire or one could not be engaged to perform all Violin standard 'til that time Violin Soloist repertoire! I am so grateful to have this P.S. Space to just add my enthusiasm for Shostakovich's No. 1 Violin Concerto and in a very mothy Key signature which honour's Greatness of Soul and also Sadnesses of The World's Tears in dire times of Unfairnesses which try Mankind's Universal Soul's until Time itself Stops when?? Saluting Dmitri Shostakovich Genius and that of David Oistrakh with immense respect and honour for their Shaken the Earth and marvellous collaborations in both Concerti for Violin with Master's at the Helm and God's Hand in Mankind ~
I Thank the Editor of Violinist.com, Laurie Niles, a Fan of this Violin Concerto #1 in a minor, Opus 99, featuring it just days ago when I was not aware of her Salute to Shostakovich!!! Thanks for the space to add my little bits of Exultation for Shostakovich and also his close friend, Grandest Cellist, 'Slava' Rostropovich who supported both Shostakovich and Sohszenitzen in their Hours of Terror by the Soviet Regime until Gorbachev came in as President of Perestroika and his generosity to us, The West, carried The Day with Famous Words echoed to Today: "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down This Wall !!!" And History was witnessed throughout the World on That Glorious Day in Berlin ~
~ ~ Always honoured to post words of Music on V.com ~ ~
................ Elisabeth Matesky ................
Fwd ~ dmg {Save:Book File V.com/A Word EM Shostakovich Violin #1 in a}
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October 21, 2025 at 08:14 PM · Bill Sloan was a really neat guy!
His ownership of both a Strad and Guarneri and his willingness to share them could get him invited pretty much anywhere, including back-stage by major artists when they were performing. He had a ball doing things like that!