No. 255, July 2016

Breaking Down Walls

Violinist Colin Jacobsen on the latest release from Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and the group’s journey to the silver screen

By David Templeton

Poetry in Motion

On the making of Bows 1500 and 1515

By Benoît Rolland

50 Years of Mostly Mozart

The venerable New York festival celebrates a birthday

By Martin Steinberg

SPECIAL FOCUS

Buyer’s Guide

City Slickers

An urban musician’s guide to practicing in crammed apartments—and navigating the busy streets

By Cristina Schreil

Finding the Right Fractional

What to expect when shopping for a small instrument

By Richard Ward

Buyer’s Guide Directory

Strings’ annual guide to shops, dealers, makers, and more

Editor’s Note

News & Notes

Elmar Oliveira creates new, ‘non-cutthroat’ violin competition to foster career development; music world mourns jazz pioneer David Baker; 300-year-old ‘Joachim-Ma’ Strad violin gifted to NEC; plus Milestones; 5 minutes with the Calidore Quartet; and more

News Spotlight

London correspondent Inge Kjemtrup’s report from the Menuhin Violin Competition

Letter from New Orleans

A moment of clarity leads to a big move to post-Katrina New Orleans

Curtain Call

Violinist Sarah Chang on the drama, passion, and intensity of the Brahms Concerto

Tales of the Trade

Cellist Mike Block’s path to unlocking the instrument’s potential required a new piece of gear

What’s in the Case?

Alexander Hanna’s Italian and French basses add different seasonings to his sound

Your Instrument

In the art of bass bars, there are no exact measurements to live by, just experienced craftsmanship

On My Music Stand

Playing Joe Chindamo’s Toccata for Solo Violin

My Studio

How a book and an experiment resulted in an unorthodox—and effective—approach to sound production

Rep Prep

Using Vittorio Monti’s Czárdás to practice navigating long shifts

REVIEWS

For the Record: Violinist Francesca dePasquale explores a variety of composers on her debut album. On Record: Rachel Barton Pine’s recording of Bach’s Sonatas & Partitas sparkles with passion and attention to detail; and more.