Bet on the Newcomer
A made-to-order violin for a retiring mentor
The ask
My old lab director retires this winter. He hired me out of community college when graduates of famous schools wanted the job, and everything I have built began there. He plays violin with a chamber group on Sunday afternoons. I want to give him a violin worthy of him. Around $55,000.
The gift
An Ultralight violin made to order by Joseph Curtin of Ann Arbor, a MacArthur Fellow known for bringing research and new materials to violin making. Low-density woods keep it light, the player resets the string height with a key, and the chinrest is built to his measure. We arrange a morning at the studio, where he plays the violins on hand and the maker takes his measurements.
Why it's extraordinary
In a blind trial this maker helped lead, ten soloists could not tell new violins from old Italian masterpieces, and six would have taken a new one on tour over their own. The director once made the same call about a community college graduate.
The moment
On the first Sunday it goes around the chamber group in the living room, one player at a time, before he takes it back for the opening movement.
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