VC Artist Ray Chen Acquires 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius Violin

Once belonging to Jascha Heifetz, this violin is now on loan to Ray from Japan’s Nippon Music Foundation

“​​I’ve got a new companion!” VC Artist Ray Chen posted to his social media. “I’d like ya’ll to meet the beautiful ‘Dolphin’ 1714 (ex-Heifetz) Stradivarius violin,” he wrote. “This instrument and I are going to be musical partners for the next few years and I’d love to share with you the process as we get to know each other! Huge thanks to the Nippon Music Foundation for this incredible opportunity.”

As Ray explained in a video accompanying his post, the instrument was “one of the top three violins [Antonio Stradivari] ever made.”

According to Paganino, the 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius is worth an estimated four million euros and is owned by the Nippon Music Foundation (NMF). Ray previously performed on the 1735 “Samazeuilh” Stradivarius violin, also on loan from NMF.

In the 1860s, the “Dolphin” Stradivarius was owned by George Hart, a violin dealer in London, who named the violin for the shape and shimmering color on its back, which reminded Hart of a dolphin — a title that, since then, stuck with the violin as it ventured from owner to owner.

As written by the NMF, this violin was purchased by C.G. Meier in 1862 from Parisian dealer Jean-Baptiste Vuillame, and was sold to Hart in 1868. It belonged to various musicians and dealers including W. E. Hill & Sons, before reaching violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz in 1950. NMF acquired the instrument in 2000.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Aaron Rosand, Australian violin virtuoso Ray Chen is a former first prize winner at the Menuhin and Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competitions. His solo engagements include ongoing collaborations with the San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and the London Philharmonic.