The article reports that Giovani Radu, 22, was arrested by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on Organized Fraud for allegedly playing the violin to collect donations for a sick child, but authorities say he had tens of thousands of dollars in the bank. The incident occurred December 23, 2022, in Royal Palm Beach, and Radu allegedly collected about $80,000 in the last year using a fake nonprofit, with signs of structuring to evade reporting requirements.
The Richmond Symphony’s concertmaster Daisuke Yamamoto will play a classic Italian violin, a 1705 Rogeri, on permanent loan from an unnamed investor to support Music Director Valentina Peleggi’s vision for the ensemble’s sound. The Rogeri instrument was chosen by Yamamoto, Peleggi, and Ellen Cockerham Riccio from a dealer-selected group brought to Richmond for tryouts, and is described as having playability, depth, and resonance.
The Nippon Music Foundation began loaning Spanish violinist María Dueñas a 1710 Stradivarius Camposelice. The Foundation had previously loaned a 1736 Guarneri del Gesu Munz since July 2019. Camposelice was purchased by the Foundation in 2004 and is named after the duke who bought it in 1884. Isabella Stewart Gardner owned it from 1894 to 1925, later passing to Váša Příhoda and others. Dueñas, aged 20, is from Granada, Spain, and has won several major violin competitions, including the 2018 Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition, the 2021 Victor Tretyakov International Violin Competition, and the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition in succession; she studies with Boris Kuschnir.
The Herald article discusses a violin crafted by Edinburgh maker Matthew Hardie in the early 1800s, touted as the 'Scottish Stradivari'. The eBay listing shows a buy it now price of $995,000 AUD, about £566,000, with the instrument dated circa 1800 and certified by Andreas Woywod. Hardie violins are rare, with a historical record of high prices for his instruments.
Slovak violinist Dalibor Karvay, principal concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony, was assigned a Stradivarius violin from 1694 by the Austrian National Bank. The bank owns about 45 similarly valuable string instruments and the collection includes nine Stradivari violins, two Guarneri del Gesù violins, and a Jacob Stainer violin, with provenance research emphasized.
The Elevar Foundation’s Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC) announced the winners of the 2023 competition held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. The First Prize went to Hina Khuong-Huu, Second Prize to Gabrielle Després, Third Prize to Laurel Gagnon, with Zachary Brandon receiving Honorable Mention; all four finalists receive a PRESTO Impulse bow from SHAR Music.