VC Artist Zlatomir Fung Loaned 1696 ‘Lord Aylesford’ Stradivari Cello

The loan has been facilitated by the Nippon Music Foundation for two to seven years

VC Artist cellist Zlatomir Fung has been loaned a new instrument, the 1696 ‘Lord Aylesford’ Stradivari Cello.

The "Category A" loan, which is available to musicians aged 35 and under, was decided at the Nippon Music Foundation's 30th Instrument Loan Committee Meeting in July 2024. Fung will receive the instrument for two to seven years.

The cello got its name from one of its owners, Lord Aylesford, a well-known amateur player in London. It was brought to London from Italy around 1780 by violinist Felice de Giardini.

New York dealer Emil Herrmann and Gregor Piatigorsky also owned the instrument, and the Nippon Music Foundation acquired the cello in 2003 from the Werro family.

János Starker played the cello from 1950 to 1965, and more recently, it was loaned to Danjulo Ishizaka and Pablo Ferrández.

A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2022 and a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Zlatomir Fung became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019, as well as the first American winner in four decades.

The winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, Fung studied with Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School.

He also served as Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2023/24 season and was named to WXQR’s Artist Propulsion Lab in 2023.