No. 265, May 2017

Wide Awake

Ron Carter on the power of the bass, and the onstage moment he’s been waiting for

By Cristina Schreil

True Colors

Composer Jennifer Higdon on her style that offers an appealing balance of the accessible and the imaginative

By Thomas May

Something Old, Something New

At 70, the Juilliard String Quartet is much older than most other American string ensembles. At the same time, it’s fresher now than ever before

By Cristina Schreil

Sweet Home Chicago

Rachel Barton Pine on her hometown, and the engaging and inclusive musical community it offers

By Rachel Barton Pine

Between the Jigs and the Reels

Fiddler Liz Carroll on the legacy of Irish fiddling in Chicago

By Liz Carroll

The Jazz Community

Chicago’s music scene prizes hustle and hard work—and never leaves a player out in the cold

By Stacy McMichael

Editor’s Note

News & Notes

Remembering Svend Asmussen; Sirena Huang wins Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition; plus Milestones, 5 Minutes with composer Anne Dudley, and more.

Letter From Behind the Screen

The 2016 Contemporary Violin Makers Exhibition hosts a blind-listening test

Curtain Call

Violinist Alexi Kenney on the breadth and scope of Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto

What’s in the Case?

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein describes the kindred spirit she found in her 1723 Montagnana

Tales of the Trade

Luthier David Rivinus fights injuries with unorthodox instruments

Your Instrument

Synthetic bow-hair makers on an alternative to horsehair

New Products

D’Addario’s Helicore Octave strings; Goetz & Leicht premium carbon-fiber bow; Wood Violins’ Nashville electric violin; and Bam’s Katyushka case line

Rep Prep

How to practice Max Bruch’s ‘Kol Nidrei’

Stage & Studio

Beating burnout: How to handle the rigors of a musical life

REVIEWS

For the Record: Jazz violinist Mads Tolling on reinventing some 1960s classics. Onstage: Centering on Fauré’s tumultuous year, a Manhattan Chamber Players concert demonstrates a dramatic arc. In Print: Martinu’s violin concertos are full of lyricism and vigorous chords, and more.