The special exhibition “The Violin in America: Old World Tradition, New World Sound” will explore the transplanting of European violin making traditions to American soil. 

On February 23, 2008, we celebrated the opening of this premiere exhibition.  Guests had the opportunity to explore the development of American violin making from its European beginnings and early New World identity to the work of today's best masters.

At  6 PM, the Museum hosted a wine and cheese reception that was followed by a performance by the Hutchins Consort and the talented Anne Akiko Meyers at 7 PM.

Anne Akiko Meyers 

Meyers has been a regular guest at some of the most prestigious orchestras and venues including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, l'Orchestre de Paris, Minnesota Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo's NHK Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

http://www.anneakikomeyers.com

The Hutchins Consort

The Hutchins Consort is a group of extraordinary virtuosi who plays on the eight scaled violins of the violin octet designed and built by famed luthier Dr. Carleen Hutchins.  The instruments are the first successful attempt to create an acoustically balanced set of instruments that can sound truly like violins across the entire range of written music. With instruments ranging from the tiny treble violin to the gigantic large bass violin, the Hutchins Consort produces an astonishing pallet of sounds.  Only four sets of Dr. Carleen Hutchins’ violin octet are in existence.  One is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, one at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, the Consort utilizes one set for performances and the final set will be on display at the Museum throughout the exhibition. 

This program was generously sponsored in part by:

The Amati Foundation	Connolly Music Company	Thomastik-Infeld Strings