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This Friday violinist Alexandre Turmel is giving a concert with George Harris on flute. The program begins with a Mozart flute concerto and a Mozart violin concerto. The second half includes a new double concerto for flute and violin by George Harris. Alexandre was...
Each summer Ottawa is fortunate to have the wonderful Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, which has grown to be the largest chamber music festival in the world. The festival contacted me in July to borrow a viola and a violin for two visiting musicians. This was arranged...
Each summer the National Arts Centre presents the Young Artist Program. Young musicians from around the world come to Ottawa for chamber music coaching, masterclasses and recitals with Pinchas Zukerman and an internationally-renowned faculty. Chatting with students...
Last week I was in Germany and North Italy buying spruce and maple for the next few years of violin making. A colleague and I first visited the wood dealer Bachmann in Italy, where we bought spruce. In their store room they had hundreds of pieces of spruce which was...
A new CD by the Montreal-based trio 'Bolero' was released in the fall last year and we've enjoyed listening to it many times in the workshop. Titled 'Prochaine Station' , it ranges from arrangements of contemporary music to tango, klezmer and jazz genres. The group...
The superb ensemble Norteño have released their third CD ~ Cato's Life. This album features music composed by Pierre-Paul Provencher, who also performs on the bandonéon (accordion) with the group. Norteño works within the world of “tango nuevo” (new tango), a genre...
The photo below is from an Italian violin made in Milan during the middle of the 18th Century. It's in our workshop for some major restoration work. On the back the varnish had worn away to show two distinct layers of varnish. I took this close up photo showing some...
In May our workshop will be closed for one week from May 8th and opening again on May 15th. During that week, I'll be in New Orleans for the biennial meeting of the American Federation of Violin & Bow Makers. Together with interesting lectures on various aspects...
This week I finished an instrument modeled after a viola by G.P. Maggini. The original was made in Brescia, Italy, during the early part of the 17th Century. The construction methods I used were similar to the methods my assistant used on her Brescian viola. The back...
Last year a local music organization gave me a cello as a thank you for volunteer work I had done over the past few years. This small size cello was made by Canadian violin maker, Pierre Martel in 1879. He worked in L'Assomption, Quebec, about 40 km north of Montreal....