In Wednesday’s (11/16) Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Stephanie Allmon writes, “Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra associate concertmaster Swang Lin got a little nervous when his cellphone rang one day after rehearsal in September and his boss was on the other line. But his trepidation turned to elation when symphony President Amy Adkins told him the reason for her call: The symphony had just acquired a second violin by the famed Antonio Stradivari—and he would be the one to play it. ‘I was driving down [Interstate] 35, and … I had to pull over; I was way too excited,’ Lin said. The symphony announced Tuesday that an anonymous Fort Worth patron has lent the orchestra the rare instrument, which was created in 1685 in Cremona, Italy. It is the second ‘Strad’ to be used by the orchestra; concertmaster Michael Shih plays the symphony’s 1710 Davis Stradivarius. The Fort Worth Symphony is one of a few U.S. orchestras with more than one Stradivarius, it says. … The Fort Worth Symphony’s new instrument, previously called the Mackenzie Stradivarius and newly renamed Eugenie, ex-Mackenzie, has graced Fort Worth stages before. It was on loan to the orchestra in the 1980s, and the organization celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1985.”
Posted November 16, 2011
