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VC VOX POP | “What's Your Favourite Gift Ever Received From a Fan?” [Q&A]

The Violin Channel recently caught up with 30+ of the world’s top string players to find out …

“What's your favourite gift from a fan?”

The Violin Channel recently caught up with 30+ of the world’s top string players to find out …

German Violin Virtuoso, Julia Fischer:

"ALL the gifts from Japan ... "

German-Canadian Cellist, Johannes Moser:

"Somehow, I always get tea ... masses of tea .... green, jasmine, earl grey, oolong ... I could open a store!" 

Canadian Violin Soloist, James Ehnes:

"I’ve been lucky to receive all sorts of lovely things ... I don’t want to single any out because they are all very sweet and much appreciated ..."

Korean-American Violin Superstar, Sarah Chang:

"Hands down ... anything that has to do with my dog, Chewie ... I have a beautiful fan who drew a portrait of Chewie and gave it to me on my birthday  ... it is one of my all-time favorite birthday presents ..."

French Cello Soloist, Gautier Capuçon:

"Many many many favorites ... but on my last Asian tour I was amazed by how many people asked me to sign their cello cases ... " 

Canadian Cellist, Amanda Forsyth:

"Fave gift from a fan was a silk custom-made cover for my cello ... in a pink snakeskin print  ..."

Russian Violin Virtuoso, Ilya Kaler:

"A difficult one...there were many-some chocolates even some cheese (I am a cheese addict) :) , a fine bottle of wine, etc. But the most precious ones were old program booklets of Kreisler's Carnegie Hall recital from 1913 and Heifetz's from 1924."

Dutch Violinist, Rudolf Koelman:

"A fan once lent me her 1720 Stradivari ... and ... I once got a fantastic gold mounted Benoit Roland bow from a fan ... and .... recently I got a very rare letter hand signed by Paganini ...."

Australian VC Artist Violinist, Ray Chen:

"My gifts from Raybaes all over the world have always been really thoughtful and personal ... the ones that stood out ... or weren't eaten ... are proudly displayed in my apartment and include portraits and dolls made in my likeness ..." [PICTURED]

VC Artist Violinist, Stefan Jackiw:

"A fan once sketched an abstract drawing while attending a concert of mine ... sort of an interdisciplinary response of one artist to another ... I thought that was pretty cool ..."

Canadian Violin Soloist, Lara St John:

"My fave gift was a 3XXXL maroon t-shirt featuring a little Santa with jazz hands ... and the words 'Lara Rocks!' ... the idea that it was personalized was sweet and I have kept it all these years ... if one day I meet a 6'6" bodybuilder with the last name 'Lara' ... I will give it a fitting home ...."

New England Conservatory Pedagogue, Miriam Fried:

"Someone came up to me and gave me a program from a concert I played when I was ten years old ... It was so thrilling to see ..."

Mozarteum University Salzburg Pedagogue, Pierre Amoyal:

"I always remember a smile ..."

South Korean Violinist, Dong-Suk Kang:

"I've received all kinds of gifts, from various people, which are often useless ... unfortunately ..."

New England Conservatory Cello Pedagogue, Laurence Lesser:

"Always when they say the performance touched them or meant a lot ... I’m not big on receiving gifts ... "

German Violinist and Kronberg Academy Artistic Director, Friedemann Eichhorn:

"A letter ... "

VC Artist Dover Quartet 1st Violinist, Joel Link:

"Recently we played a concert and an extremely generous fan provided us with homemade sushi which was INCREDIBLE ... hard to beat amazing food ..."

VC Artist Calidore Quartet 2nd Violinist, Ryan Meehan: 

"When we competed in the ARD Competition ... a German fan, who we met after our first round, proceeded to bring us flowers back stage for each of the three subsequent rounds ... to wish us good luck ..."

Russian-American Violinist, Philippe Quint:

"The best gifts ... heartfelt notes about the performance ... "

Russian-German Violinist, Kirill Troussov:

"A small boy once came up to me after my concert with a painted picture of me with my violin  ... I was deeply touched ..."

Portuguese-American Violinist, Elmar Oliveira:

"A violin bow at a really great price ... I love violin bows!"

American Violinist, Rachel Barton Pine:

"It’s a toss-up between a beautiful handmade fine tuner, made of 24-carat gold and with a ruby on top ... and ... every time a child draws a picture of me"

British Violinist, Alexander Sitkovetsky:

"As my short name is Sasha  ... I love receiving “Sacha” chocolates in Japan ..."

Ukrainian-Israeli Violin Virtuoso, Vadim Gluzman:

" .... It's a sketch of me and my wife Angela performing on stage made by a little girl ... behind the simplicity of it, there is so much emotion ... sadly, she was gone before I could ask her for her name..."

Dallas Symphony Concertmaster, Alexander Kerr:

"A pencil drawing of me ... from a performance a wonderful artist had attended ..."

Berlin Philharmonic Concertmaster, VC Artist Noah Bendix-Balgley:

"I've gotten some wonderful sketches of me playing from fans over the years ... "

London Symphony Orchestra First Violinist "Queen of Bling", Maxine Kwok-Adams:

"Some delicious homemade violin-shaped biscuits I was given in Dortmund by a lovely lady ... "

VC Young Artist Violinist, Timothy Chooi:

"I love it when a fan brings chocolate or home baked goodies ...  but a card with a nice message is always a heart-warming gift ..."

VC Young Artist Violinist, Ioana Cristina Goicea:

"A painting ...."

VC Artist Cellist, Pablo Ferrández:

"Probably drawings ...."

VC Young Artist Violinist, Stephen Waarts:

"A small but beautiful sketch of a violinist ..."

VC Artist Violinist, Benjamin Beilman:

"A beautiful hand-made silk violin bag ... covered with the reprinted manuscript of the Fugue from Bach's C Major solo sonata ..." 

VC Young Artist Violinist, William Hagen:

"I got some really delicious Belgian chocolate  ... that was fantastic ... but I'm honestly so happy just to receive nice compliments ..."

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