On Wednesday 26 September 2018, the Amilcare Ponchielli theatre in Cremona hosted the award ceremony of the 15th International “Triennale” Violin-Making Competition “Antonio Stradivari”.
The event, considered as the Violin-Making Olympics and promoted by Fondazione Stradivari, offered violin-makers and musicians worldwide a privileged opportunity for exchange: 331 artisans from 40 countries and 431 instruments registered for the competition, including violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. A kind of world tour through the instruments specially created for the contest: from Austria to China, from Japan to Brazil, from Canada to New Zealand, from Spain to the United States, to Taiwan.
The instruments have been evaluated by a panel coordinated by Renzo Rebecchi, including masters violin-makers and exceptional musicians who, through a long-established formula, have assessed whether the craftsmanship quality and the acoustics performance were harmonically balanced to highlight the excellence of contemporary violin-making.
The support of Fondazione Cologni made it possible to grant the special “Premio Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte”, award to the best foreign-born violin-maker living and working in Italy.
From 27 September to 14 October, the instruments will be showcased in the Padiglione Andrea Amati of Museo del Violino, in the halls hosting masterpieces by Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri, thus highlighting the ongoing tradition firmly and uninterruptedly joining historical workshops and contemporary ateliers.
