Luthiers
Who makes Octet Violins? The following luthiers have either studied with Carleen Hutchins, use her methods or both—and have made octet violins. Each and every luthier listed below is professionally trained and willing to make octet violins of various sizes: Alan Carruth: Location: Newport, New Hampshire, USA Website: www.alcarruthluthier.com Email: alcarruth@aol.com PHONE: 603-863-7064 Anne Cole: Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Website: www.annecoleviolinmaker.com Email: anne@annecoleviolinmaker.com PHONE: 505-294-3709 Andrea Ortona: Location: Oxford, UK Website: www.ortonaviolins.com Email: andrea@ortonaviolins.com PHONE: 44 (0) 789-4077-322 Joris Wouters: Location: Westerlo, BELGIUM Website: www.violin.be Email: joris@violin.be PHONE: 32 (0) 14 54 01 08 Pio Montanari: Location: Genova, ITALY ...
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Ernst Chladni
In 1782, German physicist Ernst Chladni began studying vibrations in rods and later in plates, an unknown field at the time as, up until this time, musical acoustical studies had focused almost exclusively on the vibrations of strings and the vibrations of air inside wind instruments. This drawing depicts the exploration of sound figures in plates from 1785. With his experiments with vibrating plates, Chladni opened up a new field. Chladni systematically studied the sound patterns of circular, square, and rectangular plates, by fixing them with his fingers at different points, thus enforcing at these points the occurrence of nodal ...
Read MoreAPGAR Quartet: Fiddles in the Hospital
“A doctor and a violinmaker walk into a hospital……” How does a violinmaker find herself stealing a shelf from a hospital telephone booth? This was hardly the scenario Hutchins envisioned when she entered Columbia Presbyterian hospital in December, 1956—with a diagnosis of breast cancer. Carleen recalled that as her mother had a sister who had died of breast cancer, “my family thought that was the end of me!” While most patients might be holding their breath, instead Carleen held fast to viola SUS #23, the prized possession she had brought with her to the hospital, spurred by the news that ...
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A Pig’s Bargain
Sometimes pivotal moments in our lives are forever recorded—in an object, or an inscription, or a symbol. Every Hutchins instrument carries within it the symbol of a life-changing moment and a lifetime friendship—between Carleen Hutchins and Helen Rice, the “Great Lady of Chamber Music.” Hutchins and Rice met over the lunch table at the Brearley School, the day before school started in the fall of 1945. Hutchins taught primary school science and Helen taught music. While Helen puzzled over the challenge of starting a string program with just one player—she ended up catching Hutchins at her own game—inspiring someone else ...
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A Feast of Fiddles – Join a Virtual Violin Community!
Join a Virtual Violin Community! Do you own a piglet in the drove? Is there a SUS fiddle in your house? Do you own a Hutchins violin? Viola? Cello? Bass? Do you play a Hutchins treble-soprano-mezzo-alto-tenor-baritone-bass or contrabass violin? If so, please join the Hutchins/American Luthier virtual violin community!!! There is strength in numbers! FREE MEMBERSHIP!!!!! Please pay your dues with a kind FAVOR—PHOTOGRAPH the SUS label inside your fiddle and send it to me via your phone—————————– We will make a montage of all your photographs—and create a piglet fiddle poster with all the SUS labels we collect. CREATING ...
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