The 2025 Violinist.com Holiday Gift Guide

December 2, 2025, 12:37 PM ·

Welcome to our 16th annual Violinist.com Holiday Gift Guide! Gift-giving is one of the great joys of the holiday season, and each year we compile a list of some of the year's best new gear, books, recordings, and other offerings from violinists for you to consider in your holiday gift-giving, gift-asking — and loading of the smartphone, computer or other device. We hope this allows you to consider a music-related gift. I've included a list of items that I've run across in my adventures as editor of Violinist.com, as well as items from our sponsors and our "Top 15" list of new recordings this year.

We also would suggest that you consider supporting your local live music scene by purchasing tickets to local music events or simply making a year-end donation to a musical non-profit of your choice. Please feel to add your suggestions in the comments section. And yes, in this case, you are allowed to toot your own horn and recommend your own recording or book or product! You may also wish to refer to our gift-giving guides from previous years; I've listed links to those at the end of this blog.

LAURIE'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Women Composers Ornaments
Consider paying homage to musical luminaries of the past by decorating your tree (at home, or maybe in the studio or concert hall lobby...) with Women Composers Ornaments, presented by the Boulanger Initiative. They include Amy Beach, Barbara Strozzi, Florence Price, Hildegard von Bingen, Germaine Tailleferre, and Lili Boulanger.

Finger Massager
They call string players "small-muscle athletes," but there are not a lot of products out there to help when those small muscles get sore and achey from over-use! We found one, though, thanks to Violinist.com member and writer Susanna Klein, who recommends it for arthritis relief, to hep increases circulation and reduce stiffness in the hands.

Violin C-Clip Protector
Slip this onto your violin or viola's C-bout to protect the wood from errant or over-enthusiastic bowing. It comes only in full-size, though wouldn't it be great for kids' fractional violins? It is made of soft plastic, to help protect the instrument's finish from contact with the bow. Available from Fiddlershop.

Violin-Shaped Purse
It’s a little purse, shaped like a violin! A fun fashion statement, especially if you are actually a violinist. Or, a nice present for a young violinist in your life. Available in black and white, it's just about big enough for your phone, keys and wallet. It's also a nice "under $20" option - available from Shar.

Earasers Earplugs
Protect your hearing, or help someone else protect theirs! Here are earplugs that are designed to filter out loud noise and let in sound at a safe, comfortable level, designed by a 60-year-old hearing aid company's lead engineer, a musician himself for 50 years. Earasers can be clean and re-used, and the silicone tips can be replaced.

Bella Concerto Rosin
Our own longtime Violinist.com member and writer Claire Allen received this rosin from her luthier husband, and it turned her head. "I never thought the brand of rosin mattered much until my husband got me some of this for my birthday and WOW." Bella Rosin was founded in 2016, by cellist Dr. Daeil Yang, after 20 years of collecting and experimenting with different types of rosins.

BUY GIFTS FROM OUR SPONSORS

Dolfinos Ultralight Miniput Stand from Bay Fine Strings
It's the ultimate tripod for all your devices: Thanks to its universal mount it is compatible with smartphones, tablets, and documents. Lightweight yet stable and robust, the miniput switches between devices within seconds. It is the first versatile tripod that assists you for any application in any environment. The all-in-one package includes: switchable desk; switchable tablet clip; base tripod & 3 screw-on legs; and a carrying bag.

Il Cannone Silver Strings from Larsen
Il Cannone Silver set introduces a bold, shining voice to the Il Cannone family. Designed for violinists seeking a silvery brilliance with an increased overtone resonance and superior projection. The Il Cannone Silver set features five strings, including two distinct E strings to match your sound: a bold & powerful Silver E and a sparkling & focused Caprice E with higher tension. Use discount code: LSNA-ICSETS20.

Evah Pirazzi Violin String Family from Pirastro

Discover Pirastro’s Evah Pirazzi violin string family: Evah Pirazzi, Evah Pirazzi Gold, and Evah Pirazzi Neo - choose the set that best fits both your personal taste and the specific tonal characteristics of your instrument.

Lemurian Crafts Regency Cherry Wood Music Stand from Metzler Violins
The Crafts currently creates elegant solid desk music stands, cello stands, stands for displaying a violin or viola, and sells these, in limited quantity, to a select few, exclusive music stores. The items produced are distinctive for their beauty, simplicity of design and meticulous craftsmanship.

Fiddlerman Master Violin Outfit
Unwrap the magic of Christmas with the Fiddlerman Master Violin, now only $989.10 (10% off) during our Holiday Sale. It's a Fiddlershop best-seller, featuring a gorgeous one-piece back, producing a warm and round tone, strong projection, and quick response. Includes a quality oblong case, Fiddlerman Carbon Fiber Bow, shoulder rest, tuner, and rosin. Like every instrument from Fiddlershop's Workshop, it is set up by our team of talented luthiers, play-tested, and delivered to you, ready to play out of the box.

Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violin (in 2 volumes)
Clive Brown’s ground-breaking edition combines a scholarly-critical approach with the provision of a wealth of information on historical performing practice. It is the first Urtext edition to include a complete Critical Commentary and a description of all relevant sources. This publication consists of a score and two individual parts for the violin: a “clean” Urtext and an annotated part with fingering and bowing by Clive Brown based on the thorough study of historical techniques and practices.

RECORDINGS - our TOP 15 of 2025

Pilot Amelia Earhart with her Electra plane, left, and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, right.

Blue Electra
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller conducting
Michael Daugherty, composer

The violin concerto "Blue Electra" was inspired by the life and death of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. It was commissioned and performed by violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who premiered the work in 2022 and is the featured soloist on the album. "I definitely feel Amelia Earhart's soul, and I feel her power when I perform 'Blue Electra,'" she told Violinist.com - please see our interview with Anne Akiko Meyers about this album.

Antonio Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni, The Four Seasons
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
Orchestre Le Consort

French violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Le Consort presents the full cycle of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" - a spirited performance on period instruments that has been touring the globe - to great critical acclaim - for the past year.

Pianist Helen Huang and violinist Paul Huang.

Mirrors: Works by Francis Poulenc, Arvo Pärt, Sergei Prokofiev
Paul Huang, violin
Helen Huang, piano

This recording focuses on two sonatas composed by Francis Poulenc (1942-1943) and Sergei Prokofiev (1938-1946) during the second world war of the 20th century. Between these two pieces is "Spiegel im Spiegel" by Arvo Pärt (1978). "Music-making at the highest level often cannot be put into words," Paul Huang said, "and the symbiotic musical language that Helen and I share takes us a step further towards the heights that we are both striving for." Paul performs on the 1742 “ex-Wieniawski” Guarneri del Gesù violin.

Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2
Chris Thile, mandolin

Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile has done it again - he has taken J.S. Bach's Solo Sonatas and Partitas for Violin and reimagined them for mandolin, shedding new light and perspective on them that violinists are likely to appreciate. It's not the first time - more than 10 years ago, Thile released his Volume 1 of these works - in which he performed Sonatas No. 1 and 2; and Partita No. 1 on mandolin. This year he released Volume 2, which completes the cycle with Partitas No. 2 and 3, and Sonata No. 3.

Violinist María Dueñas. Photo by Sonja Mueller, courtesy Deutsche Grammophon.

Paganini: 24 Caprices
María Dueñas, violin

Spanish violinist María Dueñas plays all of Nicolò Paganini’s wickedly difficult 24 Caprices, as well as a selection of later works inspired by Paganini, presenting music by composers ranging from Berlioz and Kreisler to Gabriela Ortiz.

Coleridge-Taylor
Curtis Stewart, violin
National Philharmonic; Michael Repper conducting

This album is nominated for a 2026 Grammy: Violinist Curtis Stewart celebrates 150th Anniversary of the birth of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with an album featuring world-premiere studio recordings of the composer’s tone poem Toussaint L’Ouverture and Ballade Op. 4 for Violin and Orchestra. It also includes a newly uncovered suite of five Negro Melodies arranged by Coleridge-Taylor, paired with modern recompositions of three Negro Melodies arranged by Curtis Stewart, Hamilton Berry, and Andrew Roitstein.

Violinist James Ehnes.

Johann Sebastian Bach: The Complete Violin Concertos
James Ehnes, violin
Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra,

Only two of Bach's solo violin concertos have survived intact, and only one - the A minor, BWV 1041 - survives in autograph. However, one considers the reconstructed concertos and the concertos for multiple instruments, there is a significant body of work showing Bach’s superlative violin writing. "In reconstructing the solo violin parts of BWV 1044, 1052, 1056, and 1060, I have tried to remain faithful to his keyboard arrangements whenever possible, while adding or amending elements that seem to me to be in the spirit of the music," wrote James Ehnes. "Performing and recording these works with the magnificent musicians of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra was an immensely rewarding experience."

Just Biber
Rachel Podger, violin and musical director
Brecon Baroque

The 17th-century Baroque composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is the subject of violinist Rachel Podger's new album - with its slightly cheeky title tipping a hat to the Canadian pop singer and phenom Justin Bieber. (If you are confused, see this helpful chart...)

Violinist Rachel Barton Pine. Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco.

French Impressions
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Pacifica Quartet
Orion Weiss, piano

Violinist Rachel Barton Pine unites with the Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet and pianist Orion Weiss for a beautiful album of chamber works by French composers Ernest Chausson and Germaine Tailleferre. The album fulfills a lifelong wish for Pine: to work with the Pacifica, whose founding members Brandon Vamos and Simin Ganatra grew up alongside Pine, a student of Brandon's parents Anita and Roland Vamos from age 10 to 17.

Baltic - The Vienna Berlin Music Club Vol. 4
Noah Bendix-Balgley and Philharmonix

Philharmonix consists of seven musicians, most of whom play in the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, operating under the mantra: "Anything goes, as long as it’s fun." This album, their fourth, is dedicated to the music of the Baltics, especially that of Latvia. Violinist Sebastian Gürtler and cellist Stephan Koncz compose and arrange all the works that Philharmonix performs. With his Baltic cycle, Sebastian Gürtler has not only created a personal tribute to Latvian folk music, but has introduced a new sound and character for Philharmonix.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Photo by Mann.

Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons conducting

"I think Shostakovich’s artistic truth was to represent the voice of the voiceless," said world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The release of this album coincided with the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death in 1975. These two very different works were both dedicated to the great Soviet cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who was also a close friend to Shostakovich. Rostropovich premiered the first concerto in 1959 and the less-frequently played second concerto in Moscow on September 25, 1966, Shostakovich’s 60th birthday.

Himari
Himari Yoshimura, violin
Chelsea Wang, piano

Japanese violin phenom Himari Yoshimura, 13, released her debut album this year, featuring "Carmen Fantasy" by Franz Waxman, "Romance" by Amy Beach and "La Gitana" by Fritz Kreisler. Himari began playing the violin at age three started performing with professional orchestras by the age of six. Himari currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Ida Kavafian and plays the 1717 "Hamma" Strad.

The Dover Quartet: Camden Shaw, Julianne Lee, Bryan Lee and Joel Link. Photo by Roy Cox.

Woodland Songs
Dover Quartet
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, composer

This album is an exploration of the rich inheritance of music from the North American continent, with Dvorak's "American" Quartet alongside the world premiere recording of two works by Chickasaw-American composer Jerod Impichcha_achaaha' Tate. Commissioned by the Dover Quartet, "Woodland Songs" (Abokkoli' Taloowa') is about traditional woodland animals revered in Chickasaw culture, where family clans are named after them; each animal has a special ethos: Squirrel, Woodpecker, Deer, Fish, and Raccoon.

Telemann - Bach - Britten - Shaw
Timothy Ridout, viola

British violist Timothy Ridout presents a program spanning centuries of unaccompanied music, from Telemann to Shaw to Britten, concluding with Bach’s Second Partita. "The Chaconne has been an absolute fascination of mine since I was around 13 years old. I listened to countless recordings of great violinists playing the Partita and was always transfixed by this single movement which seems to encompass the world."

La Mer – French Works for Piano Trio
Neave Trio
Anna Williams, violin
Mikhail Veselov, cello
Eri Nakamura, piano

Grammy-nominated: "La Mer" is a celebration of French works for piano trio focused on three pieces composed around the turn of the twentieth century – Trio No. 2, Op. 92 in E minor by Camille Saint-Saëns; Soir-Matin, Op. 76 by Mel Bonis; and La Mer by Claude Debussy, arranged by Sally Beamish.

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The 2025 Violinist.com Holiday Gift Guide

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