Vadim Gluzman received the 1690 'Auer' Stradivari after the Henryk Szeryng Foundation put his name forward. 'People in the audience had complained that they couldn't hear me in the hall,' he recalls. 'The Strad Society generously loaned me a violin for a concert at Ravinia and one month later I received a call that they had a violin for me. Imagine what it's like holding the instrument that Heifetz, Elman, Milstein and Zimbalist heard in their violin lessons! It is a treasure, a piece of history. Having a violin of this quality has enhanced my playing and consequently my career. Like Geoff Fushi says, it is the difference between driving a General Motors car and a Lamborghini. Though it has taken me some time to get to know the instrument, I now can express myself twice as well. However, I now have the added responsibility to fulfil not only my own promise, but that of the violin.'

Siqing Lu, a violinist who studied at the central conservatoire in Beijing, the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Juilliard School, is now using a Nicolò Amati, his second loan, after a period with a Maggini. 'For a young musician just starting a career, having a good instrument is a big plus. For us these instruments are way too expensive to acquire at this stage,' he confirms. 'Because of my background I consider myself a bridge between the East and West. Last year, with the help of the Strad Society, I took five violins, two Strads, two "del Gesùs" and the Maggini, to Beijing for a concert that was televised throughout China. The Chinese are eager to know about Western music and I wanted to show how having a good instrument can enhance the musician's interpretative skills. The next day people were stopping me in the street and asking: "Is that the famous Italian violin?"'

Obviously for the musician this is a dream come true. But what is in it for the patron? Fushi admits: 'This has to be fun and easy for the patron. I see buying an 18th-century golden age violin as an alternative investment to art and sculpture. You might own a Picasso, a Renoir and a Strad. After all, tastes in Strads and Guarneris don't change like they do in art and painting. These instruments have been sought after by soloists for the last 250 years. A violin is a stable blue-chip investment and a useable collectable. And usually these people have so much money that they are not interested in cashing in their investment later by selling. They are looking to leave a legacy to their family and to music.'

This was the initial intention of co-founder of the Stradivari Society, Mary Galvin. 'At the time, I had three grandchildren studying violin and planned to keep the instruments in the family,' she explains. 'I realised though that many artists could not afford the tools of their trade; we try to give them a leg up. The instruments inspire the musicians to search for a new, more profound voice. Then they go out and make recordings and for a few dollars everyone can enjoy these incredible instruments and the music these talented youngsters express.'

Though many patrons prefer to remain anonymous, Clement Arrison is an outspoken supporter of the Stradivari Society. 'I took violin lessons until I was in ninth grade, but found that I couldn't play baseball while I was inside practising,' he admits. 'I love the violin and I always wanted to own one, but it didn't seem to make sense if it wasn't going to be played. I don't believe in locking up an instrument in a vault. The other aspect is meeting the wonderful artists and hearing them play. I have had concerts here at my home and in public places. I decided to share this with my mother, who was 94 and lived in a retirement home. Many of the old people there had heard the famous violinists of their youth, but they can't get out any more. When I loaned my Strad to Maxim Vengerov he was playing concerts all over the world, but would stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to play for my mother.'

The society currently comprises 25 artists, 18 patrons and 21 instruments and, as far as Kang knows, is the largest such loan programme for young artists. Other activities include the presentation of eight to twelve masterclasses each year given by artists such as Salvatore Accardo, Yehuda Hanani, Ko Iwasaki, Donald McInnes - the current recipient of a Gasparo da Salò viola - Joseph Silverstein and Donald Weilerstein. In December alone Fushi gave lectures on Stradivari in California for the World Presidents' Association, the Library of Congress and the Harvard Club in New York. 'My partner says I should go out and sell more violins,' Fushi laughs, 'but this is much more fun.'

Some of the society's violins feature in a remarkable project which Fushi conceived to coincide with Peter Biddulph's 1994 exhibition of 15 Guarneris at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. All the instruments were recorded and photographed in conjunction with 15 Stradivari violins, creating a rare opportunity to compare and contrast the work of 'The Miracle Makers'. 'I designed this to be a primer in violins for patrons,' he remembers. 'Most people who collect records have the sound of a Strad or a "del Gesù" in mind. With The Miracle Makers, I can prove that instruments like these are necessary to an artist.' Elmar Oliveira recorded 15 works first on a Strad, then a 'del Gesù'. In two CDs the Strads appear chronologically and are contrasted with a Guarneri. The third CD allows tonal comparison of all 30 instruments playing the opening of the Sibelius Concerto. Fushi's comment? 'My projects are big. Bigger is better!'

To date the Stradivari Society has helped over 40 musicians. For anyone hoping to be invited to be the next one, heed Galvin's final words: 'Not everyone has lived up to their potential. We give the artists an incentive and we like to see them improve and take the necessary steps to become world-class, but sometimes we have to take the instrument back.' However, for those who combine the other necessary qualities, skill and luck, the society may provide the extra element that can propel an artist to global acclaim.