Podcasts by Rosin the Bow with Joe McHugh
An audio journey through the fascinating world of the violin family
Further podcasts by Rosin the Bow with Joe McHugh
Podcast on the topic Musikinterviews
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Purnaprajna Bangere&David Balakrishnan - Mathematics as Muse - Part 2 from 2022-04-03T00:00:37
This podcast continues my conversation with two remarkable and thoughtful musicians. It also explores how the principles of abstract geometry can inform both the comp...
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Purnaprajna Bangere&David Balakrishnan - Mathematics as Muse - Part 1 from 2022-04-02T23:58:38
Purnaprajna Bangere is both a brilliant mathematician and a highly-respected violinist trained in the classical violin music of southern India. David Balakrishnan is ...
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Bashar Matti - Iraqi-American Violinist from 2022-03-07T11:13:31
Bashar Matti was born in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War and endured the troubled times of the Kuwait-Iraq War and subsequent United States invasion of his country. Thr...
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Amanda Forsyth - Cellist from 2022-02-27T01:00
Amanda Forsyth is a cellist who was born in South Africa and grew up in Canada. Her father was a composer who inspired her to become a musician. She is married to the...
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Daniel Rouslin and the Mystery of the Hidden Violin from 2022-02-20T01:00
Daniel Rouslin taught violin and music theater at Willamette University for many years. He was teaching there in 1988 when an early 18th century Italian violin was di...
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Rhiannon Giddens - Fiddler, Banjoist, and Singer from 2022-02-13T01:00
Grammy and MacArthur award winner Rhiannon Giddens grew up in North Carolina near the city of Greensboro, which is where I interviewed her in 2015 while she was perfo...
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John Sherba - Violinist with the Kronos Quartet - Part 2 from 2022-02-06T02:01
This is part two of my conversation with violinist John Sherba who is a member of the Kronos Quartet. In this podcast he talks about some of the quartet's innovative ...
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John Sherba - Violinist with the Kronos Quartet - Part 1 from 2022-02-06T01:00
John Sherba is a violinist and member of the legendary Kronos Quartet. I interviewed John several months after the Covid 19 pandemic changed everyone's life. Here he ...
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Tony Ellis - Musician, Composer, and Trader of Musical Instruments from 2022-01-30T23:51:30
Tony Ellis' first professional job as a musician was playing banjo for Bill Monroe, considered by many as the father of bluegrass music. Along with being a gifted ban...
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Marco Imer Piccinotti - Italian Violin Maker - Part 2 from 2022-01-23T01:11
This is part two of my conversation with violin maker Marco Imer Piccinotti who lives in the town of San Polo d'Enza in Northern Italy.
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Marco Imer Piccinotti - Italian Violin Maker - Part 1 from 2022-01-23T00:03
Marco Imer Piccinotti is a highly-regarded violin maker living in the town of San Polo d'Enza in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Paula and I visited Marc...
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Christian Howes - Jazz Violin and the Hero’s Journey - Part 2 from 2022-01-17T19:14:58
This is part two of my fascinating interview with violinist and music educator Christian Howes.
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Christian Howes - Jazz Violin and the Hero’s Journey - Part 1 from 2022-01-17T19:07:24
Christian Howes is a gifted violinist who grew up in Ohio playing classical music, soloing with the Columbus Symphony at the age of sixteen. But then his life was tur...
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Mark Keenan - Irish Violin Maker from 2022-01-05T15:32:21
I recorded this hour-long interview with violin maker Mark Keenan in 2017 when my wife Paula and I traveled to Ireland. Mark's studio is inside the historic Belmont i...
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Jody Stecher - Old-time Musician - Part Two from 2021-12-13T21:25:18
Here is part two on my conversation with old-time musician Jody Stecher that ranges from music theory, what's in tune and what's not in tune when playing different fi...
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Jody Stecher - Old-time Musician - Part One from 2021-12-13T21:13:58
Jody Stecher is one of the most highly respected folk musicians in the world today. His knowledge of the genre is encyclopedic and his singing and skill on a variety ...
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Courtney Granger - Louisiana Fiddler from 2021-09-30T09:29:05
While attending the National Folk Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 2015, I had the opportunity to interview fiddler Courtney Granger who was performing at t...
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Clay Buckner - Fiddler With the Red Clay Ramblers from 2021-04-30T20:38:50
Clay Buckner is an old-time and Celtic fiddler living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For many years, Clay has been the fiddler for one of my favorite string bands, t...
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Michael Certalic - A Custom-made Violin for a Montana Violinist from 2020-07-27T19:59:26
Michael Certalic is a violinist who lives in Bozeman, Montana, where he heads up the strings program at a local high school. In this podcast, he tells the story of a ...
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James Kelly - Irish Fiddler from 2020-06-02T10:55:06
I interviewed James Kelly at the National Folklore Festival in 2015 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Mr. Kelly was born and grew up in Ireland and is now living in the ...
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The Violin-Building for Musician Aid Project from 2020-04-26T14:55:35
The interviews I conducted with musicians, luthiers, museum curators, tone wood experts and others for the Rosin the Bow project took place before the Covid 19 pandem...
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Penny Brill - The Healing Power of Music from 2020-04-22T19:13:05
Penny Brill is an accomplished violist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has also led an effort to bring the healing power of music to hospitals and other m...
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Hans Johannsson - Icelandic Violin Maker from 2020-04-05T01:00
Hans Johannsson is a violin maker from Iceland. David Fulton is a noted collector of old Italian violins, violas, and cellos. I met and interviewed Hans when he came ...
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Bruce Molsky - Old-Time Fiddler and Singer from 2020-03-29T01:00
Anyone familiar with what is called "old-time" music knows the name Bruce Molsky. As a fiddler, singer, and guitar and banjo player, he has helped keep traditional Am...
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Lyris Hung - Acoustic/Electric Violinist and Marketer of Violin Strings from 2020-03-22T01:00
Lyris is the former head of marketing for orchestral strings for the D'Addario Musical Strings Company. She is also an accomplished violinist who plays with the popul...
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Winifred Horan - Fiddler and Composer with the Irish Band Solas - Part 2 from 2020-03-15T01:10
This is the second part of my conversation with Winifred Horan, fiddler with the Irish musical group Solas, during which she talks about her Jonathan Cooper violin an...
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Winifred Horan - Fiddler and Composer with the Irish Band Solas - Part 1 from 2020-03-15T01:00
I interviewed Winifred Horan when she came to perform with the Irish musical group Solas at the Wintergrass Music Festival in Bellevue, Washington, in 2016. This is p...
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Gregg Alf - American Violin Maker in Venice, Italy - Part 2 from 2020-03-08T01:10
In part two of my conversation with Gregg Alf, we talk about the day to day life of the violin maker, including the harvesting of tone wood, and what it takes to sell...
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Gregg Alf - American Violin Maker in Venice, Italy - Part 1 from 2020-03-08T01:00
In 2015, Paula and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by visiting the city of Venice. While there, we had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Gregg Alf, o...
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Joshua Bell - Violinist from 2020-03-01T01:10
Joshua Bell is one of the most respected solo violinists in the world today. He also serves as the music director of the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields. I inte...
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Tom Barr - Violin Maker, Music Store Owner, and Labor Union Organizer from 2020-02-23T01:00
Tom Barr was one of the first people I interviewed for the Rosin the Bow project. He grew up in Grayson County in the mountains of southwestern Virginia where he now ...
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Stuart Canin- Violinist - Part 2 from 2020-02-16T01:10
In part 2 of my interview with Mr. Canin, he talks about his career in music including auditioning for the San Francisco Symphony and playing for motion pictures in H...
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Stuart Canin - Violinist - Part 1 from 2020-02-16T01:00
Stuart Canin is one of the most respected violinists in the world today. I interviewed the 91 year old Mr. Canin at his home in Berkeley, California. Having served as...
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Chris Haddox Tells the Story of a Blind Violin Maker in West Virginia from 2020-02-09T01:00
Chris Haddox is a fiddler, luthier, and professor of environmental studies and West Virginia University. He is also the owner of a violin made in the mountains of West Virginia the early part of...
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The Vettori Family - Three Generations of Italian Violin Makers from 2020-02-02T03:00
In the spring of 2015, Paula and I visited Florence, Italy, to interview a family of violin makers. Paolo Vettori is the patriarch of the family who learned to make violins from his father Dario...
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Dmitry Sitkovetsky - violinist-conductor-philosopher from 2020-01-26T01:00
In 2016 I visited Greensboro, North Carolina, to interview Russian-born violinist and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky and attend a special concert featuring Mr. Sitkovet...
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Fan Tao - Violin Strings Expert - Part 2 from 2020-01-19T06:00
In part 2 of my interview with Fan Tao, head of research and development for the D'Addario Musical String Company, Fan talks about how his family came to the United S...
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Noel Burke - Irish Violin Bow Maker from 2020-01-19T06:00
Noel Burke is one of the world's leading violin bow makers. He is also the younger brother of noted traditional Irish fiddle player Kevin Burke. I visited Noel at his...
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Fan Tao - Violin Strings Expert - Part 1 from 2019-08-04T11:27
Fan Tao is head of research and development for the D'Addario Musical Strings Company based in Farmingdale, New York. He is also past president of the Violin Society ...
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Joseph Kromholz - Violinist and Teacher from 2019-07-28T10:57:48
Joseph Kromholz is a violinist and professor of violin and viola at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. I interviewed Mr. Kromholz in the fall of 2015 an...
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Clay Jenkinson - Thomas Jefferson and the Violin from 2019-07-21T06:00
Clay Jenkinson is an acclaimed humanities scholar with a deep knowledge about the life and work of Thomas Jefferson, a paragon of the enlightenment whose many interes...
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Kevin Burke- Irish Fiddler - Part 2 from 2019-07-14T06:00
In part two of my interview with Irish fiddler Kevin Burke, we explore the relationship between the violin and the electric guitar. He also talks about how he acquire...
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Kevin Burke - Irish Fiddler - Part 1 from 2019-07-07T06:00
Kevin Burke has been a mainstay of the traditional Irish music scene since the early 1970s. He has performed with groups such as the Bothy Band, Patrick Street, Celti...
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Yael Rosenblum - Cremonese Violin Maker from 2019-06-30T06:00
In 2015, Paula and I visited Cremona, Italy, the city where the great masters of violin making, Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri, once lived and worked. Thanks to the ...
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Pete Sutherland - Old-time Fiddler and Songwriter from 2019-06-23T06:00
Vermont-born fiddler and songwriter Pete Sutherland has been a mainstay of the old-time music scene for many years. I first met Pete in the early 1980s when we both s...
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Eric Funk - A Musician for All Seasons - Part 2 from 2019-06-16T06:10
In this second part of the conversation I had with Eric Funk, he talks about the inspiration and creative process behind his concerto A Violin Alone in which a solo violinist not only plays the ...
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Eric Funk - A Musician for All Seasons - Part 1 from 2019-06-16T06:00
While attending a wedding in Bozeman, Montana, I had the good fortune to interview Eric Funk, musician, conductor, and celebrated composer. Eric is also a professor o...
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David Balakrishnan - Violinist&Composer with Turtle Island Quartet from 2019-06-10T19:26:05
David Balakrishnan is a gifted violinist and founding member of the Turtle Island String Quartet. He is also a composer who draws upon a variety of musical traditions...
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Aaron Allen - Impact of Violin Making on the Environment from 2019-06-02T06:00
Aaron Allen is a professor of musicology and environmental studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In this podcast, he looks at the impact instrume...
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Michael Gray - Jazz Violinist from 2019-05-26T06:00
Michael Gray is a violinist and composer living in the Pacific Northwest who has performed with the gypsy-jazz inspired combo Pearl Django for many years. I interview...
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Eugene Friesen - Cellist with Paul Winter Consort from 2019-05-19T06:00
Eugene Friesen is a cellist who has performed as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for many years often exploring the musical possibilities of playing inside sacred...
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Natalie MacMaster&Donnell Leahy - Canadian Fiddling Family from 2019-05-12T06:00
Husband and wife duo Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are award-winning Canadian fiddle players. Natalie grew up on Cape Breton Island and Donnell grew up in Ontar...
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Michael Cleveland - Champion Bluegrass Fiddler from 2019-05-05T06:00
Michael Cleveland was born blind but he fell in love with the violin as a young child when he heard a recording of the fiddle tune Orange Blossom Special. “I want to ...
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National Gallery of Art - Tour of Paintings with Violins from 2019-04-28T06:00
Fine violins and cellos are more than musical instruments; they are also visual works of art. They exist in the visual art world in other ways as well. In 2015, I vis...
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Nadine Landry - Bass Player&Vocalist - Foghorn Stringboard from 2019-04-21T06:00
Nadine Landry was born into a musical family in the province of Quebec in Canada. She is a member of the Foghorn Stringband and is married to the band’s fiddler, Step...
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Robert Ray - Violin Bow Maker from 2019-04-14T06:00
The Rosin the Bow project got its start thanks in large part to bow maker and violin dealer and shop owner Robert Ray in Olympia, Washington. Bob’s fascination with t...
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Zoe Conway - Classical&Traditional Irish Musician from 2019-04-07T06:00
Zoe Conway is a gifted young musician living in Ireland. Steeped in the traditional fiddle music of her native land, she is also an accomplished classical violinist. ...
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Bruno Crosignani&Giuliano Zugliani - Caretakers of the Val di Fiemme - Part 2 from 2019-03-31T06:00
This podcast features an interview with Bruno Crosignani, director of the office of the Paneveggio Forest that manages the harvesting of tonewood from the Val di Fiem...
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Piera Ciresa - Val di Fiemme - Part 1 from 2019-03-24T06:00
Piera Ciresa is the co-owner of the Ciresa Val di Fiemme, a tonewood company located in the small village of Tesero high up in the Italian Alps. The company provides ...
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Mick Moloney&Athena Tergis - Traditional Irish Musicians from 2019-03-17T06:00
These are two of most highly regarded traditional Irish musicians performing and teaching today. Mick Moloney was born in Ireland and now lives in the United States. Along with being a singer an...
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Sigrun Seifert&Joseph Grubaugh - Husband&Wife Violin Makers - Part 2 from 2019-03-10T06:00
In this part 2 podcast, husband and wife luthiers Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert talk about the importance of varnish in the making of violins and cellos. They al...
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Sigrun Seifert&Joseph Grubaugh - Husband&Wife Violin Makers - Part 1 from 2019-03-03T06:00
Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert are violin makers living in Petaluma, California. They are also husband and wife and they make almost all of their instruments toge...
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Alicia Svigals - Klezmer Violinist from 2019-02-24T06:00
Alicia is a violinist, composer, and founding member of the Grammy- winning Klezmatics. She collaborated on musical projects with violinist Itzhak Perlman, the Kronos Quartet, playwrights Tony K...
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Scott Marckx - Port Townsend Violin Maker from 2019-02-17T06:00
Scott Marckx is a violin maker and old-time fiddler living in Port Townsend, Washington. He is a also a builder of wooden boats and a philosopher. It is always a pleasure to spend time in his compa...
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Jeff Harshbarger - Multi-genre Bassist - Part 2 from 2019-02-10T06:00
In part two of this podcast, bassist Jeff Harshbarger talks about his different approaches to using a bow with a bass. He also talks about a remarkable teacher he vis...
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Jeff Harshbarger - Multi-genre Bassist - Part 1 from 2019-02-10T06:00
Jeff Harshbarger is a bassist, composer, and band leader living in Lawrence, Kansas. In 2011, he was voted Best Bassist by Pitch Magazine. I first heard Jeff perform ...
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Carl Jones - Songwriter and Fellow "Tune Tramp" from 2019-02-03T06:15
I have know very few songwriters whose songs move me as much as those composed by Carl Jones. A multi-instrumentalist as well, and that includes the fiddle, Carl has ...
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Erynn Marshall - Old-Time "Tune Tramp" Fiddler from 2019-02-03T06:00
Erynn Marshall grew up in British Columbia but her love of traditional fiddle music eventually took her to the mountains of southwestern Virginia where she lives toda...
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Music for Food - Helping Those In Need Through Classical Music from 2019-01-31T06:00
Inspired by Carol Rodland’s Rochester-based “If Music be the Food…” food drive concerts, violist Kim Kashkashian launched a concert series titled Music for Food in 20...
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Roland Feller - The Making of a Luthier from 2019-01-24T06:00
Roland Feller grew up in Switzerland and attended the violin-making school in Mittenwald, Germany, before coming to the United States to work with Simone Fernando Sac...
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Alasdair Fraser - Scottish Fiddler - Part 2 from 2019-01-17T18:12:45
In this part of my conversation with Alasdair Fraser, he tells a remarkable story about how a young girl with a rare and potentially fatal disease was helped by liste...
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Alasdair Fraser - Scottish Fiddler - Part 1 from 2019-01-17T03:20
In my twenties, I spent a year living in Scotland doing my best to learn the fiddle music of the Highlands. Later I moved to Nevada City, California, where I had the ...
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Laurie Lewis - The Maple's Lament from 2019-01-17T03:15
Laurie Lewis is a Grammy award-winning bluegrass fiddler and songwriter. For several years she owned a violin shop in Berkeley, California. Here Laurie tells how she ...
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Bruce Harvie - Orcas Island Tonewoods - Part 2 from 2019-01-17T03:00
In part two of my conversation with tone wood expert Bruce Harvie, we discuss the selection and use of Pernambuco for making bows and the growing problem of tone wood...
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Bruce Harvie - Orcas Island Tonewoods - Part 1 from 2019-01-17T02:50
Bruce Harvie is a tonewood dealer who lives in the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound. Here he shares his passion and vast knowledge of tonewood for violins and other mu...
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The Canote Brothers - Old-time Musical Twins from 2019-01-17T02:50
Greg and Jere Canote are identical twins who play old-time fiddle, guitar, and banjo. Renowned for their musical stylings as well as their zany sense of humor and goo...
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David Fulton - Stories from the Collection from 2019-01-17T02:45
This is the second part of my interview with violin collector David Fulton. Here David shares an entertaining mix of stories related to some of the most treasured vio...
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David Fulton - The Making of a Collector from 2019-01-17T02:40
David Fulton is one of the most important violin collectors in the world today. Here David shares his life story and the passion that drove him to seek out and preser...
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Darol Anger - Violinist and Teacher from 2019-01-17T02:35
Few violinists in modern times have made as much of a mark on the music world as Darol Anger. A founding member of the Turtle Island Quartet, he now teaches at the Be...
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William Monical - History of the Violin from 2019-01-17T02:30
William Monical is a highly regarded restorer of bowed stringed instruments. He also possesses a wealth of knowledge concerning the evolution of the modern violin. He...
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Mark O'Connor - Contest Fiddler - Part 2 from 2019-01-17T02:25
With three Grammys, seven CMA awards, and numerous national fiddle, guitar, and mandolin champion titles to his name, Mark pays tribute to his mother and her dedicati...
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Mark O'Connor - Contest Fiddler - Part 1 from 2019-01-17T02:20
While performing at the Wintergrass Music Festival in Bellevue, Washington, Mark O’Connor takes time to revisit the memories of his childhood growing up in Seattle an...
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Paolo Bodini - Creating a Museum for the Violin from 2019-01-17T02:15
Dr. Paolo Bodini is a physician. politician, and president of the Museo del Violino in Cremona, Italy, a city that is famous for having been the home of master violin...
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Rachel Barton Pine - World Renowned Violinist - Part 2 from 2019-01-17T02:10
Ms. Pine begins this part of the interview with the story of an unusual experience she had once while playing a very special violin. She also discusses her desire to ...
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Rachel Barton Pine - World Renowned Violinist - Part 1 from 2019-01-17T02:05
Internationally acclaimed concert violinist, recording artist, educator, and philanthropist, The New York Times describes Rachel Barton Pine as “Striking and charisma...
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Rosin the Bow Podcast Sampler from 2019-01-17T02:00
Joe McHugh is a storyteller, fiddler, and award-winning public radio journalist who travels the world exploring the many roles the violin family of instruments play i...
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