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The article features Russian-American violinist Philippe Quint. Topics include the training Quint had in Moscow, Russia under Russian violinist Andrei Korsakov and the bachelor's and master's degree he earned at the Juilliar School, the nomination he received from Grammy Awards for his recording "Korngold: Violin Concerto," and the preparation he is doing for a 2015 tour with his chamber ensemble the Quint Quintet. INSETS: QUINT ON THE TCHAIKOVSKY/ARENSKY ALBUM;WHAT PHILIPPE QUINT PLAYS.

The article focuses on the selection of Juilliard School-trained violist David Wallace as chair of the string department at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and his advocacy for a comprehensive music education. Topics covered include his expertise in the field of music education which has come from being a senior teaching artist at the New York Philharmonic and the highlights of his career such as landing commissions from the Marian Anderson String Quartet.

The article features Canadian concert violinist James Ehnes and his recordings of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok's masterworks. Topics include Ehnes' fascination with the atonal music Bartok wrote at different points in his life, the Bartok Project he launched with the 2011 release "Bartok: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, Viola Concerto" where his rendition of Violin Concerto No. 2 was described as "Heifetzian," and the grand prizes he won as a concert violinist.

The article features violinist Jennifer Koh who debuted with Chicago Symphony at age 11 and won the Internaional Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Russia, Concert Artists Guild Competition and Avery Fisher Career Grant at age 17. It cites nonprofit MusicBridge she is establishing to support continuing and new collaborations with artists of diverse disciplines whose next undertaking is the Bridge Beethoven project featuring musicians from various nonmusical, cultural and racial backgrounds. INSET: WHAT JENNIFER KOH PLAYED.

The article reviews the exhibition "Painting My Father" at the Gallery Henoch in Chelsea, New York on December 2013 which features the works of Max Ferguson such as "The Violin Repair Shop."

The article provides information on Classical Revolution, an initiative to bring traditional and experimental chamber music to audiences beyond the concert hall. It discusses the origin of the initiative when violist Charith Premawardhana performed his graduate recital at the Eagles Drift Inn dive bar in San Francisco, California. It mentions the role of music professional Joshua Feltman in promoting Classical Revolution in New York City.

The article profiles violist, composer and arranger Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin. Zhurbin has arranged music for ensembles and written music for feature-length and short films. He released the album "Lost in Kino" in December 2011. His musical sound was shaped by his childhood in New York and his Russian-Jewish culture. Zhurbin, who studied viola in Manhattan and the Juilliard School of Music, is described as an improviser and experimentalist who developed his musical voice through his experiences.

The article features Angelo Moreno, an orchestra class teacher at the Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. He organized a high- school orchestra program for 144 students which includes a full-size orchestra and a smaller chamber orchestra. In 2008, Moreno added the Davis High School (DHS) Baroque Orchestra with the idea that this type of music and style of instruments would attract kids. The Davis Schools Orchestra Music Association (DSOMA) granted 15,000 U.S. dollars to Moreno to fund the instrument conversion.

The article features Sarah Neufeld, violinist in the award-winning indie-rock band Arcade Fire, who recorded a solo album "Hero Brother," released in August 2013 on Constellation Records. Neufeld, who owns Moksha Yoga studio in Manhattan, New York, also heads the six-piece Montreal instrumental ensemble Bell Orchestre. According to Neufeld, "Hero Brother" is like an archetypal character, and that she got into the narrative underpinnings of the album, and ran with it.

The article features the comedy duo of Russian violinist Aleksey Igudesman and Korean pianist Hyung-ki Joo. The duo's first encounter took place at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England when they were 12 years old. They parted ways when Joo studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music in New York with Nina Svetlanova while Igudesman studied violin at the Vienna Conservatoire in Austria with Boris Kuschnir. The key elements of their success and their career highlights are cited. INSET: WHAT IGUDESMAN & JOO PLAY.

The article examines how luthiers are exploring new frontiers in stringed instruments using nontraditional woods. The author reports that among the alternative woods being used by adventurous luthiers in building fiddles include balsa, bubinga, black walnut, Douglas fir, myrtle, and redwood. The author notes that while tradition and market forces have kept many violin and viola makers to traditional methods, cello and bass makers have been more exploratory.