About The
Stradivari Society ®
The Stradivari Society ®
Inspires and Supports Young
Students Recitals
In 1990 The Stradivari Society® began
presenting a series of recitals each season
in Chicago to give further support to its
artist-recipients. Recitals featuring
Society artists including Kyoko Takezawa,
Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, and Eunice
Lee have been held in Chicago, New York,
Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Beijing,
London, Tokyo, and other important
international music centers.
MASTERCLASSES
The Stradivari Society® regularly presents
masterclasses giving young musicians the
opportunity to benefit from instruction by
distinguished teachers in the elegant
Great Room at Bein & Fushi as well
as in the music capitals of the world. The
Society frequently collaborates with The
Betty Haag Academy of Roosevelt University
to bring outstanding soloists to work with the
students in masterclasses and public
performances in the United States and abroad.
Among the artists who have graciously shared
their expertise are Salvatore Accardo, Vadim
Gluzman, Yehuda Hanani, Alan Harris, Sidney
Harth, Ko Iwasaki, Wolfgang Laufer, Donald
McInnes, Midori, Ruggiero Ricci, Aaron Rosand,
Kurt Sassmanshaus, Gil Shaham, Abram Shtern,
Joseph Silverstein, Tsubara Tsutsumi, and
Donald Weilerstein.
ARTISITIC ACHIEVEMENT
That The Stradivari Society® has had a
global impact on the classical music world can
be seen in the many prestigious international
awards and events that have honored both
recipients and patrons. Society co-founder
Mary Galvin was presented by the Korean
government in 1997 with an award recognizing
her work to help young musicians the world
over. Former recipient Eunice Lee and the
International Sejong Soloists, in its
debut performance, played at the event. April
29, 1995, was proclaimed by Mayor Richard M.
Daley as Mr. Geoffrey Fushi Day in the city of
Chicago and by Governor Jim Edgar as Mr.
Geoffrey Fushi Day in Illinois honoring his
support of young artists through The Stradivari
Society®.
Violinist Elissa Lee Koljonen was featured soloist
with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic as part of the celebration marking 700 years of the
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Grimaldi Dynasty in 1997. To mark the
anniversary of Antonio Stradivari's death,
The Stradivari Society® was invited
to present a lecture-demonstration at the
Library of Congress in December 1998.
Geoffrey Fushi discussed the many
characteristics and tonal qualities of
Stradivari's instruments and the great
mystery surrounding his work. Violinist
and recipient Janice Martin illustrated
with musical examples, performing on the
"Burstein, Bagshawe" Stradivari violin of
1708. Thanks to the sponsorship of Motorola,
Inc., and the generosity of former recipient
and violinist Gil Shaham, The Stradivari
Society® held a debut concert in
Beijing, China, in June 1994. Mr. Shaham
performed (gratis) with The Betty Haag
Academy's acclaimed Suzuki performing group
from Chicago, The Magical Strings of Youth.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION WINNERS
The Stradivari Society®
artists have taken top prizes in all of
the major international competitions.
American violinist Jennifer Koh was a
prize winner in the 1994 Tchaikovsky
Competition and also received the 1995
Avery Fisher Award. Violinists Bin Huang
and Siqing Lu of China have been prize
winners in the prestigious Paganini
Competition. Greece's Leonidas Kavakos
and Japan's Kyoko Takezawa took top
honors at the International Violin
Competition of Indianapolis. Elissa
Lee Koljonen won the first Henryk
Szeryng Competition in 1994. In 1998
recipient Soovin Kim also took the top
prize in the Szeryng Competition. The
Ukraine-born, Israeli violinist Vadim
Gluzman received the Szeryng Foundation
Career Award in 1994, and Romanian
violinist Irina Muresanu was a prize
winner in the Shadt String Competition,
the Washington International, and the
Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels
in 1997.
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