Applications Open for Nippon Music Foundation’s 2024 Instrument Loan Project

Applications for special music events and debuts will close on September 10, 2024

Launched in 1994, the Nippon Music Foundation’s Instrument Loan Project owns and loans fine Stradivarius and Guarneri string instruments to exceptional musicians.

The Foundation offers three categories of loans. Applications to Category C are now open from July 8 to September 10, 2024. 

This category involves loans for a specific purpose, such as a recording project, competition, or special concerts, including anniversaries or debut events.

Category C loans are available for up to one year. Successful candidates will be notified of the results about one month prior to the requested start date of the loan.

Applicants will require two letters of recommendation, a biography and performance schedule, a list of repertoire, and three video recordings of their playing.

For information and to apply for Category C, click here.

Loan recipients are selected by an international Instrument Loan Committee, which comprises Count Yvan de Launoit, Mari Fujiwara, Sir Clive Gillinson, Koichiro Harada, Shinichiro Ikebe, Kim Kashkashian, Ida Kavafian, Jonathan Nott, and Dmitry Sitkovetsky. A recent Category C loan recipient is violinist Youjin Lee, who will be loaned the Guarneri del Gesù “Muntz” violin of 1736.

Applications to Categories A and B closed in April 2024 — Category A loans of two to seven years are for instrumentalists aged under 35; Category B’s two- to three-year loans are for players performing primarily in Japan.

Additionally, Category D refers to the Foundation’s Stradivarius 1708 Violin “Huggins,” which is loaned as a supplementary prize to the winner of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Violin Competition in Belgium. This year, the violin was loaned to Dmytro Udovychenko.