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Newsletter of the New Violin Family Association

Vol. 2, NVol. 2, NVol. 2, NVol. 2, NVol. 2, No. 3 Spring 2005o. 3 Spring 2005o. 3 Spring 2005o. 3 Spring 2005o. 3 Spring 2005

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In the U.K. Roddy Skeaping Leads aMemorable Octet Concert

In 603 A.D., when the Papalemissary, St. Augustine, traveledto Aust on the English side of theRiver Severn to meet with theWelsh bishops, his goal was tounify the Celtic and Anglo-SaxonChurches. History tells us that theoverbearing Augustine

instruments until he was in histwenties and began to study violinat a local music academy.Dissatisfied with the sound of hisshiny student violin, Wouterswent to the violin repair shop ofhis uncle, Achilles van Elst, andasked to borrow an instrument.Van Elst refused, telling hisastonished nephew, “Go makeone yourself!”

That might have ended Wouter’sviolin career on the spot exceptfor one thing. Wouters recalls,“He gave me a copy of ScientificAmerican, the one with the articleon plate tuning by CarleenHutchins, and told me I shouldread it.”

Building the Belgian OctetJoris Wouters Creates Future Music

Joris Wouters converses in asoft voice, but his plans forcreating the first European-builtoctet speak loud. Like many whowork to promote the new violinfamily, Wouters came to the octetonly after walking a long andcircuitous path. He was not drawnto the world of stringed

succeeded only in creating apublic relations disaster, and thatthe trip was a failure. Augustinecould not have known that his visitcreated an event for which anoriginal musical compositionwould be commissioned some1400 years in the future, and that

a 12th-century church built at Aust600 years later would be theconcert hall in which the piecewas played.

Concert organizer Dr. PeterDobbins tells us that Music in theChurch at Aust is an indepedentmusical charity (similar to a non-profit art organization on this sideof the pond) that puts on a regularseries of musical events featuringan eclectic mix of early music andtraditional music of other cultures,but with an “occasionalcontemporary surprise.” In this

OcOcOcOcOctetetetetettttt

David Bird, treble; Dan Wolverson, alto; Frances Laughton, mezzo;Steffan Llwyd, alto; Kate Cullen, tenor, Heather Hibbard, baritone;

Charles Roberts, bass; John Harvey, Contrabass; Roddy Skeaping,conductor (seated, foreground)

see Wouters, p. 5

case, that might be theunderstatement of the year!

“What a Programme!”The concert was a successdespite the unfamiliarity of themusicians with their violins andlimited times for rehearsals. Theevent drew a full house, and therewas also a good audience for theafternoon showing of the octetand a talk describing the scienceunderlying the violins fromphysicist Dobbins. Dobbins notedthat nobody left during the

see Aust, p. 4

photo by Giles Godwin

New Violin Family Association Newsletter2

PresidentPaul R. Laird

First Vice-PresidentJohn Cavanaugh

Second Vice-PresidentFrancis Furlong

SecretaryPamela Proscia

TreasurerCharles J. Rooney, Jr.

Executive DirectorCarleen M. Hutchins

TrusteesElias AbelsonJoseph F. Conrad IIDaniel HeifetzTheodore A. JonesAndré P. LarsonDonald Joseph McNalleySharon McNalleyEdith MunroRobert Nersasian, MDJoseph Peknik, IIIF. Scott PonicsanDean E. RichardsonMargaret H. Sachter, Esq.Lin TollefsenTim Trott

Advisory BoardAlan CarruthCarolyn Wilson FieldFrances FieldingElizabeth HaegerThomas KnattFrederick LipsettStephen NachmanovitchGrigory SedukhRobert J. SpearChris TwidleDuane VoskuilJames WeigelMary WilliamsRobert WilkinsJoris Wouters

Newsletter EditorRobert J. Spear

Officers and Board

Violin Octet Newsletteris published twice each year by The New Violin Family Association,Inc. 42 Taylor Drive, Wolfeboro NH 03894

The NVFA encourages the distribution and dissemination ofinformation about the new violin family octet, performers, composers,and luthiers. Permission is granted for fair use of any materialappearing in the newsletter with proper attribution of its source.Please notify the editor when making such use.

Copyright 2005 by the New Violin Family Association, Inc.

Letter From the Editor

International News.In anticipation of our OctoberConvention in Ithaca, NY, muchof this issue is devoted to the in-ternational aspects of octet work.It may surprise some of you toknow that beside the octet beingconstructed in the USA, othersare underway in three countries;Belgium, Italy, and Australia.Read on to learn more, and makeplans to attend the conventionthis fall. We have been workinghard to provide our members witha varied, informative, and enjoy-able experience. Our goal was toensure that everyone would gohome with useful and practicalknowledge.

Lodging Roommates.Information about conventionlodging is on our website, with thelink prominently displayed on thehome page. The best rate pernight is obtained with doubleoccupancy. If you have reserveda room and would like to share it,or if you haven’t reserved a roomyet and are looking for someonewho needs a roommate, pleasecontact Louisa Jones at thecentral office. She’s thereMonday, Wednesday, and Fridayfrom 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.Eastern Time. Call 603 569 7946or email <[email protected]>. We’ll try

our best to match you up withsomeone of similar interests.

Finding Others.We are considering creating aregistry that will contain thenames of octet instrument playerswith some other basic informationsuch as instrument played andlevel of ability. This kind ofinformation would reside on thepassword-protected portion of ourmembers web page where a levelof privacy can be maintained. Theprocess would be similar to theone used by the AmateurChamber Music Society.

The suggestion was initially madeto us by Patrick Tobin, one of ournewest members, that individualsseeking to find others to playmusic or form groups would begreatly assisted by having accessto such information. We think it’sa great idea, Patrick, and thanks!While we work out the details,Louisa Jones has offered to getthe ball rolling; send her an email<[email protected]>, and be sure tolist your instrument or area ofspecial interest.

Events Calendar Moves.Many wonderful events featuringoctet instruments are announcedand performed between issues.

Keeping our Events Calendarcurrent on two issues per yearhas been frustrating, so we havedecided to discontinue it as aregular newsletter feature andmove it to our web site at<www.nvfa.org/events.html>. Wecan update frequently online andpost many more events therethan we can here, and readerscan learn of events in time toactually attend them! Check inoften to find out what’s going onin the world of octet instruments!

Fall 2005 Issue Delayed.The next issue of the Violin OctetNewsletter will appear inDecember 2005 or January 2006.This will allow your editor time torecover from his labors asconvention organizer and todevote the contents to the OCTET2005 Convention.

R. J. Spear, EditorPO Box 6562Ithaca, NY [email protected]

Send concert and eventnotices to <[email protected]> or PO Box 6562,Ithaca, NY 14851. Wewelcome submissions forarticles, Letters to the Editor,Luthier ’s Workbench, andLighter Moments. Pleaseinclude your name, address,and a small photo of yourself(digital format preferred).

have read “Aware that no equa-tions were available to reliablypredict these mode frequencies .. .” (Mea culpa, George. This onesomehow slipped past me betweenthe first and fiftieth revisions. Apolo-gies to you, Carleen, and John. --Ed.)

- - G e o r g eB i s s i n g e r,Ph.D.., is aprofessor ofphysics atE a s t e r nCarolina Uni-versity who

swears he will one day build atenor violin for his wife!

Compliments and Corrections.I just got the newsletter overChristmas. Good Work! There isa needed correction to a sen-tence in my article “Modaling theViolin Octet,” which appeared onpage 13 (Vol. 2, no. 2, Fall 2004).The sentence that reads “Un-aware that equations were avail-able to reliably predict thesemode frequencies, the Hutchins-Schelleng team scrutinized abroad range of bowed string in-struments . . .” seems to imply thatCarleen and John were lookingfor empirical connections whenthey should have looked at theo-retical ones. The sentence should

New Violin Family Association Newsletter 3

Letters to the Editor

Looking Back, Looking Ahead.I enjoyed the latest issue of theViolin Octet Newsletter! It broughtback warm memories from daysof long ago when I played the vio-lins and had such good contactswith Carleen. It’s wonderful thatyou are doing this. I am hopingto attend OCTET 2005 in Ithacathis fall, and I’m looking forwardto seeing you and also to the nextissue of the newsletter.

- - P a m e l aGearhart is aninternationallyknown violinist,educator, or-chestra con-ductor, and re-tired Dana Pro-

fessor at Ithaca (NY) College,School or Music.

Octet Violins on Compact Disc.For the convenience of our read-ers, our full line of compact discscan be obtained online throughCD Baby, where you can also findrecordings by independent artistssuch as Chien Tan and ReginaldClews, performing on octet instru-ments.

www.cdbaby.com

Best wishes to the New ViolinFamily Association on yourfirst international conventionfrom your friends at the Guildof American Luthiers.

Errata. The article on JoeMcNalley’s Hutchins Consort, “8is Enough,” incorrectly listed inour previous issue as appearingin the November 2004 edition ofStrings Magazine, appeared inthe issue for January 2005.

Joe Peknik, principal technician in the department of musical instru-ments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, informsus that the Hutchins Violin Octet exhibit will be extended through theend of June 2005 and possibly longer. Although the exhibit has re-mained mounted far past its original expiration date of 2003, Pekniksays that it has been popular with visitors to the museum throughoutits three-year presentation (originally scheduled for 18 months). Dur-ing the period of Christmas and New Year, and the end of the “ChristoGates” exhibition in Central Park, people visited the museum at therate of 30,000 a day. Peknik notes that the exhibit “always draws alot of attention. Nearly five million people visit the museum annually.

Photo by Edith Munro

Millions of People Have Seen This Exhibit!

WIN THIS VIOLIN!

The NVFA is raffling off this beau-tiful copy of the del Gesu “KingJoseph” violin made and donatedby Joseph Conrad. The violin in-cludes a case and bow. All pro-ceeds go toward furthering thework of the NVFA. The violin willbe on display and tickets may bepurchased during the convention.


intermission, and that a largenumber of patrons later retired tothe nearby Boar’s Head Inn tomeet the players.

John Oswin, writing in theThornbury Gazette, said “What aProgramme! The full ensemblesounded wonderful (and) thebasses stood out as particularlygood.” Oswin noted that twocompositions written especiallyfor the octet were well received.He said Skeaping’s Reflectionson a Disused Railway Line“sounded really fine and shouldget more outings,” while Mann’sEight Verses for Saint Augustineintrigued the audience with a“demonstration of the soundtextures that can be created withsuch a well-balanced ensemble.”Oswin also expressed hisconcern that the instruments notbe “put away in a cupboard andforgotten.” Hear, hear!

Eight Verses for St. Augustine.With the financial support of ArtsCouncil England South West, thePerforming Right SocietyFoundation, and the SouthGloucester Council, a new workfor octet was commissioned fromcomposer Terry Mann. Manndoesn’t use unconventionalharmonies even by 20th-centurystandards but relies instead onprecision, tuning, and rhythmicclarity to define his pieces.

Mann had to write music for anensemble that he did not hear orsee until the first rehearsal, andit was not until then he realizedthat his music caused difficultiesfor the treble player due to thesmall scale of the fingerboard. Inthe end, Mann was not even able

Aust from p. 1

to attend the premiere of his piecebecause he had to honor acommitment as composer-in-residence at Banff, Canada!

Mann says he did not think of theoctet as eight individual violins,but as one large violin with eightvoices. This striking feature of theinstruments was also noticed bythe players, some of whomcommented on the surprisinglysimilar tonal response of the topsix violins, remarked on their evenresponse across the strings, andnoted how well they respondedin the higher registers--even onthe lower strings.

The Aust Players. Findingmusicians for the group proved tobe a long process. In the end, thetop three violins were played by

faculty members from thedepartment of physics at BathUniversity; Professor David Birdon treble, Dr. Dan Wolverson onsoprano, and Dr. FrancesLaughton on mezzo-- surely themost academically illustriousgroup ever to shoulder octetinstruments!

Other musicians were recruitedfrom the Bath SymphonyOrchestra or from a string quartetbased at Bath University. Some,like John Harvey, responded to a

leaflet calling for volunteers. Aversatile musician, he could haveplayed any of the instruments, buthis favorite was the alto violin. “IfI’d been able to walk away withone, this would have been it,”Harvey wrote to us, although heended up playing the contrabassbecause he was the larger of onlytwo volunteers who could playbass. Harvey said the power andtonal quality of the contrabasswas “amazing.”

Dan Wolverson said of hissoprano, “I’d like to keep itplease!” Wolverson, a violist, hadto transpose his parts into altoclef, but found himself taken withthe soprano. He feels that theinstrument stands well on its ownand does not need to be playedonly in an octet.

Others picked instruments formore pragmatic reasons. Unablechoose between the tenor andthe alto, Kate Cullen selected thetenor because the alto was easierfor another volunteer, SteffanLlwyd to transport on hismotorbike! Cullen did not regrether decision, and she became

John Harvey with contrabass.

impressed with the tenor for itsoverall tone quality and potentialas a solo instrument. Like manyof the others, Cullen becameattached to her new instrumentand told us that she “was reluctantto leave it behind after theconcert.”

The musicians had high praise forthe qualities of the octet, andfears about the condition of theviolins after a long period ofdisuse at Edinburgh provedunfounded. Harvey, who playedall of the set, said that they wereremarkably easy to play and ingood adjustment..Persistence Pays.Like Augustine’s visit, the firstattempts to organize the concertdid not succeed. The event hadto be cancelled twice in 2003,once when technical difficultieswith the octet instruments aroseand again when both Dobbinsand Mann suffered seriousillnesses. Dobbins tried again in2004, and this time his effortswere successful.

Although organizing the concertwas an exhausting experience,Dobbins says he is not through.He plans to take the program toEdinburgh for a performance inthe Reid Concert Hall and to playin London in a venue to beannounced later. The project willbe completed with the release ofa CD recording of what Dobbinscalls “a landmark event” in thehistory of the little Aust Church.

phot

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Gile

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David Bird, Dan Wolverson, andFrances Laughton rehearse.

Thanks to Peter Dobbins for hiscontributions to this story and forproviding photographs.

Wouters varnishes a bari-tone violin in his shop.


Instead Wouters got married, hadthree children, and saw his sparetime “reduced to nothing.” Heworked several jobs to support hisfamily but felt aimless and oftenfound himself thinking aboutviolins. His wife, Mieka, urged himto pursue his dream, saying thathe would always regret not trying.Wouters set up shop in the smallBelgian village of Westerlo, about30 km from Brussels, thinking itwould take him at least 10 yearsto make a go of it.

Wouters did not think much aboutthe octet and concentrated onbuilding conventional violins andviolas. The closest he came tobuilding instruments of differentsizes occurred when he madehalf-sized violins for his youngchildren, which proved so difficulthe promised himself never to tryanything like it again.

Still, he felt that his new violinsnever reached their potential andat length he revisited theScientific American article hopingto improve their sound. “A friendof mine made me a sine wavegenerator, but I didn’t know howto use it,” Wouters told us. Hisfrustration led him to seek outHutchins, but he didn’t have heraddress. It took him a full yearbefore his search led him to theStockholm Museum where a staffmember found the information heneeded. “Carleen replied to myletter,” Wouters recalls, “but shewasn’t taking students any longerand referred me to Tom Knatt andAlan Carruth. I came to the Statesfor two weeks one summer andthey taught me the basics.”

Knatt acted as an itermediary,and Wouters rented a car and

drove to New Jersey one Sundayafternoon to meet with Hutchinsat her home in Montclair.Convinced of his intent, andrelieved that he could speakEnglish, Hutchins agreed to teachWouters for a few weeks eachsummer. Wouters has returnedfor twelve years and is now thelast of her students.

Despite his struggles to findHutchins, Wouters remainedmore or less indifferent to the newviolin family until he heard a fullset played in Edinburgh in 1997,which finally put his interest inmotion. “I remember listening tothem and thinking that theysounded really great,” Wouterslaughs. “Of course, I tried to putany thoughts of building an octetout of my mind as impractical, butin the end I couldn’t. It was likebeing infected with the flu. Youhave to let it run its course!”

Urged on by Hutchins, Woutersbegan to make an octet, but heworked mostly in his spare time

Wouters from p. 1

and progress was slow. Then hemet a Belgian couple--composerJan Van Landegem and hisviolinist wife, Jenny Spanoghe--who were interested in the octet,but Wouters had nothing to showthem.

Realizing that no one would beinterested in the instruments fromtalk alone, Wouters returned tohis bench with renewed energy.Hutchins provided him with partsof several unfinished octetinstruments, and in July 2004,when Wouters visited the coupleagain, he brought an alto and abaritone with him. “They invitedme to stay for dinner,” Wouters

said, “but they could not keeptheir hands off the instruments.Very late that evening I returnedhome, ecstatic--and hungry!Finally, after knocking on so manydoors it seems that this time Iknocked on the right one.”

Wouters plans to have a treble,soprano, and mezzo ready to play

by the time you read this, afterwhich he will turn his attention toa tenor. His indifference hasvanished, and he now says hewould make only octetinstruments if he could.

He comments, “The octet is thefuture, and we are helping tocreate it.” For Wouters, this ismore than a figure of speech. Inthe fall of 2004 he participated inthe Ballidio Cello Conference,held in four historic buildingsspread through the Belgian cityof Antwerp. About 150 celloplayers and ten makers took part,and Wouters brought his recentlycompleted baritone and altoviolins. He admits there weresome low moments, including afew discouraging episodes witholder players who did not seemto grasp the octet concept andwould not take a moment to evendraw a bow across the strings.

“I would say that 60 or 65 percentof the musicians there had notheard of the new violin family,”Wouters told us in a trans-Atlantictelephone conversation, “butmany liked the instruments. I sawthat these people had outgrownthe average ideas about musicalinstruments and were ready to trysomething new.” Wouters’greatest successes occurredwhen students in their teenspicked up the instruments. “Theteenage musicians were the oneswho played the most,” Wouterssays, “and I recall four inparticular who were ecstatic withthem. I left the conferenceknowing I had sowed someseeds, and I’m sure some of themwill grow.”Joris Wouters supplied information and

photographs for this article.

Wouters planes a baritonebass bar.


Australian Octet Begun

There was great surprise and joyat the NVFA central office whenwe received word that theQueensland branch of theAustralian Association of MusicalInstrument Makers (AAMIM) inBrisbane was contemplating theconstruction of a full set of thenew violin family.

At one of the group’s regularmeetings about a year ago,Marion Goward, a musician whorecently had retired from theforest industry, raised the idea ofbuilding an Australian Octet. Thisidea fascinated Chris Twidle, ateacher of technology, graphics,and woodworking, who had longbeen interested in the work ofCarleen Hutchins. To date therehas never been a full octet builtin Australia, although the late“Johnno” Johnson had acquired

a set of plans and started workon some of them. OtherAustralian makers had also triedtheir luck at building individualinstruments of the set, but werehandicapped in that none of themhad ever seen or heard any of thenew family first hand.

The undertaking will beexpensive, but a donation ofAU$200 from Ms. Fran Gilje ofBrisbane to the Queenslandbranch has allowed the project toenter the planning stage, and thegenerosity of Carleen Hutchins inaddition to a bequest from theestate of Mr. Johnson has giventhe Australians a full set of plansand study guides and most of thematerial for the “top five”instruments. The question nowlooming for the group is whatsteps to take next.

Local or Imported Wood?From the start, the makersagreed to restrict themselves tonative wood. Twidle reports thatthere is much interest in localforest products such asTasmanian Blackwood (Acaciamelonoxylon) and Queenslandmaple (Flindersia breyleyana) forthe backs, while King Billy Pine(Athrotaxis selaginoides, alsofrom Tasmania), which has beenused extensively for guitars,seems like a good candidate fortop wood. In light of what CarleenHutchins had to say about thesuitability of King Billy pine for thelarger instruments, Celery Toppine (Phyllodadus aspleniifolius)and Bunya pine (Araucariabidwillii) were added to the list,although the group has admittedthey would resort to usingEuropean wood if all else failed.

Twidle says it was obvious fromthe start that the project wasgoing to be a significant and long-term one with a steep learningcurve for some to understand theacoustic concepts that underliethe octet. Twidle says, “Thefurther we go along our path themore we are coming to realize themagnitude of the project. Theactual building of the instrumentscould almost be seen as the moststraightforward part of it.”

Members of the Queensland Branch of the Australian Associationof Musical Instrument Makers meet to discuss the octet. (L to R)

Trevor Martin (National Secretary), Robert James, Reg Cooke,Marion Goward, and Chris Twidle (standing, rear).

Makers in another hemisphere.Being half a world away fromEurope and nearly as far from theUnited States, Australia’s violinmakers have either beenimported or constrained to traveloverseas to obtain training.Recognizing that both their skillsand resources are limited andwidely dispersed, the interestedmakers formed a loosecommittee and have begunmaking some basic decisionsabout gathering the necessaryinformation, selecting andobtaining the needed materials,and finding players for theinstruments.

Trevor Martin intends to work onthe treble violin; Maurice Briggs,a retired engineer and mandolinbuilder, will make a soprano;Chris Twidle will work on a mezzo;

Reg Cooke, another retiredengineer, will take on the alto; andMarion Goward, who wasresponsible for the entire idea inthe first place, has beenpersuaded to try her hand at atenor violin. Chapter presidentDoug Eaton is likely to be pressedinto service in the bow makingdepartment, according to Twidle.

“The further we go along our path the more we are com-ing to realize the magnitude of the project. The actualbuilding of the instruments could almost be seen as themost straightforward part of it.”

--Chris Twidle

Thanks to Chris Twidle for his con-tributions to this story and for pro-viding photographs.


Luthier’s WorkbenchTip #5: Balsa Crush CaulsTo glue ribs to blocks we usuallymake a wooden counterform, orcaul, to match the block curve.Some time ago, we came up withthe idea of making the entire caulfrom blocks of balsa wood com-monly found in hobby and artstores. Balsa shapes easily, andthe wood will compress to fit smallirregularities the first time it isused. It will do the same in each

subsequent use, so your joint willalways be perfect even when yourcurve isn’t.

Preparation is pretty basic. Makethe underside flat so that it restssquarely on the work surface, andkeep the sides perpendicular(see photo) so that in use theblock stands where you place itand does not require a third handto position it when applyingclamps. To prevent the clamp jawfrom deforming the block, glue apiece of wood to the balsa withwhite glue before shaping. Thecrush caul in the photo is for acontrabass, so the backing woodis 3/8” plywood scrap with theedges planed flush to the block.Shaping the balsa is done withplanes and rasps, checking for agood fit and keeping the sidesperpendicular.

Balsa blocks are a joy to workwith. When we made our first, wesimply expected to expend themafter a few uses, but the numberof times a block can be slightlycrushed continues to surprise us.If the balsa becomes much de-formed, it can be reshaped andused again. We started usingbalsa blocks on violas and cellosabout twelve years ago and haveyet to throw one out.

A balsa wood crush caul fora contrabass showing

plywood backer (on left). Alarge square assures

perpendicularity.

Tip #6: Tailpieces and Tailhangers for Alto:Your alto is finally ready to play, but you can’t find the right tailpieceand the tailhangers are always the wrong size. By using a light-weight tailpiece such as the Wittner shown here, and a nylon spacerfound in most hardware stores, you can solve both problems atonce. The spacer can be cut to length with a knife. Tailhangers some-times fail at the threads; solve this by using two nuts on each side.

Notes on the Alto Violin

Comments and observations on thismost middle of all the instruments.

The octet designers facedunique problems when decidingon the alto string length. Therewas concern that violists wouldnot accept a vertical alto andevidence that players mightprefer to play even a large altoon their shoulder. Bill Berman, aman of considerable arm andhand proportion, did, in fact, playthe alto as a shoulder instrumentfor years. Later, his student,Randall Vemer, also played thealto horizontally.

Accordingly, the string lengthwas kept short so that viola-stylefingerings could be used. Thissolution worked well, eventhough it meant taking libertieswith the proportions of thedesign, the length of the ff-holes,and the traditional neck-to-body-length ratios.

Yet there are compelling reasonsto play the alto vertically. Settingthe instrument on a pin lifts theburdensome weight off the leftshoulder, allowing the arms andhands to assume a naturalposition. The ease of playing inthe extended range of the altocompared with the conventionalviola is a benefit most betterplayers quickly realize. Whileviola fingerings are intended inthe lower positions, there is noargument that above the neck/body joint, only cello-style thumb-position playing will work.

Players who come to the altoviolin from the alto viola and

players who come from the cellotend to look at alto fingering andtone production quite differently.Steve Stalker, former alto playerwith the Albert Consort, and JohnAcosta, former alto player of theHutchins Consort, are bothcellists, but Stalker studied violaand took a violist’s approachwhile Acosta looked more to thecellist’s techniques. Their opinionis that neither fingering styleworks entirely well.

Acosta’s alto was an originalHutchins model with a stringlength of 400 mm; Stalker’s asecond-generation model madeby Robert Spear for an air-modeexperiments (“Influence of Formon the ‘Signature Modes’ of aSecond-Generation New ViolinFamily Quintet,” CASJ, Vol 4, no.8 (Series II) November, 2003, p.19). Its string length is 435 mm,which raises an interestingquestion: how long would an altostring length need to be beforecello-style fingerings wouldprove more advantageous?Stalker said he would use cello-style fingering if the string lengthwere longer, but he added, “Itwould have to be a lot longer.”

Both Stalker and Acosta endedup using what might be called a“three-finger style” of playing, butwhere Stalker thought of his wayas a variation of viola technique,Acosta said he thought of his asplaying cello-style low-thumbposition without the thumb.

continued over . . .

We’ll be atTable #4,OCTET 2005Cayuga Room.


Viola players also have a muchdifferent conception of tone,which is directly a function ofhow the bow is held and thestroke speed and weight. Acombination of two stylesproves helpful; the cello grip onthe bow but without the heavyhand that most cellos require.

Viola Hand; Cello ThumbThe key to playing the alto is

to approach the instrument likea beginner. Removingpreconceptions goes a longway toward overcoming whatStalker calls the alto’s“middleness;” that combinationof properties that makes it themost difficult member of theoctet to play. “It really comesdown to this,“ Stalker says,“viola hand, cello thumb.”

Luthier Robert Spear, who builtthree altos and watchedplayers adjust, agrees thatcello-style thumb placement ismore advantageous. “It allowsthe player to mix systems whileproviding an anchor for thehand,” he says. “The exactchoice between reaching backwith the first finger as a cellistdoes, or sliding the secondfinger forward as a violist does,depends in large part on thepassage being played. Withthe alto, a player can mixsystems and choose thefingering that works better fora particular passage.”

Playing HurtOne of the great advantages of

In this 1932 photo, RamonParramon of Barcelona playshis 524 mm (21”) alto. Noteelegant left hand fingering

and right hand bow position.

the vertical alto is realized byindividuals for whom age,disease, or accident hasthreatened or diminished theirability to play the conventionalviola. Spear notes that the lastthree altos he made have beenfor injured violists whose playingdays were otherwise over. Whilethis may sound a little gruesome,he thinks that it represents apoint where the alto will gainacceptance. “If the alto will savecareers,” he says, “the playerswill use it.”

Build the Alto First!Spear has advice for any luthierready to build an octet--build thealto first! It offers a highprobability of success on the firsttry, but, more importantly, it is theone for which it has been themost difficult to find players, andthe one for which most playersneed the most time to adjust. If asubset of the octet iscontemplated, the alto is theindispensable instrument.

We note with regret the passing of Dennis Flanagan, who died Janu-ary 14, 2005 at his home in New York. Flanagan, editor of ScientificAmerican for 37 years and 436 consecutive issues, was a supporterof the violin octet. Like Carleen Hutchins, Flanagan believed thatscientific findings should be presented to the general public in aclear and concise manner that dispensed with technical jargon andobscure terms. In 1962, Scientific American published Hutchins’ “ThePhysics of Violins,” a report of her findings on plate tuning that gen-erated more requests for information than Hutchins and the old Cat-gut Acoustical Society (CAS) had ever received before. Exposure inScientific American gave the work great credibility and brought itbefore the public in a way that, as Hutchins says, “put Catgut on theroad as an international organization. Dennis Flanagan is one of the

reasons we are here.” Flanagan felt just the opposite. He wrote toHutchins some years later; “Your articles in Scientific Americanopened up an entirely new theme in the magazine that did us muchcredit.” Another Hutchins’ article, “The Acoustics of Violin Plates,”appeared in 1981, just three years before Flanagan stepped downas editor. Flanagan served on the CAS Board for almost the entireperiod of its existence, and almost never failed to attend CAS events.After the CAS merged with the Violin Society of America, he servedon the NVFA Board until January 2004 when he resigned due toadvanced age and inability to travel. He then accepted inclusion inthe association’s new advisory board because it was something hecould do from home. NVFA has lost a strong supporter and a goodfriend, and we are not likely to see another like him soon.

Dennis Flanagan 1919-2005

Stringmakers for Octet Violins.See us at OCTET 2005

Table #1, Cayuga Room.

Custom cases and bags atreasonable prices for New

Family Violins.Stop by and visit us at OCTET2005! Table #2, Cayuga Room.

<[email protected]>

+Newsletter Back Issues +Octet Plans and Drawings +Compact Discs and DVDs +Luthier’s Kits +Article Reprints, and more!

Our thanks to La Casa Parramon,Barcelona, Spain for the photo ofRamon Parramon and permissionto use it.

sort, and others.

5:00 p.m. Exhibition and vendors’room closes.

5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Dinner on yourown.

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Location to beannounced. Evening recital partone with Grigori Sedukh, trebleviolin, and Elena Svetkova, piano:also with Chien Tan, treble violin;part two; Steven Nachmanovitch,mezzo improvisations. Free tomembers.

November 1, 2005: Tuesday7:30 - 9:30 a.m. Breakfast Buf-fet, Max’s Restaurant.

9:30 a.m. Cayuga Room. Exhibi-tion and vendors’ booths open.

9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. SenecaRoom. Roderick Skeaping; Con-ducting, composing, and arrang-ing for the octet.

9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. IthacaRoom. Playing the alto, tenor,baritone, and bass violins. AkuaDixon, baritone; Dominic Duval,bass (jazz); Diana Gannett, bass(classical); Joe McNalley, bass(classical); Ted Mook, tenor; Wil-liam Berman, alto.

12:00 p.m. Lunch on your own.

2:00 p.m. Board Room. Luthier’splate tuning workshop continues.

2:00 p.m. Seneca Room. Treble,soprano, and mezzo violin mas-ter class with Grigori Sedukh.Master students include Chien

Structure in the Mezzo Violin,”Duane Voskuil;“Air Modes,” Carleen Hutchins.


2:00 p.m. Board Room. Luthier’sworkshop on basic plate tuning,concluding session.

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Ballroom.General Session. Paul Laird,Moderator. Topic: “What’s Next forthe New Violin Family?” Presen-tations by NVFA officers andboard; general discussion; ques-tion and answer period.

4:30 p.m. Cayuga Room. Exhibi-tion and vendors’ booths close.

4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Early dinner onyour own.

7:15 - 8:15 p.m. State Theatre.Presentation by Dr. Paul Laird onthe history of the violin Octet.Open to the public; tickets re-quired.

8:30 p.m. State Theatre. Galaconcert, first part. Hutchins Con-sort from California; also GrigoriSedukh, treble violin. Intermis-sion: Second part: Albert Consortfrom New York; also DianaGannett, bass. CombinedHutchins and Albert Consorts andinvited musicians from the con-vention attendees. Open to thepublic; tickets required.

November 3, 2005: Wednesday7:30 - 9:30 a.m. ContinentalBreakfast in lobby or breakfast onyour own at Max’s. Check out ofyour room by 11:00 a.m.

Tan, Linda Case, and WendyOlson-Posner.

2:00 p.m. Ithaca Room. MasterClass on Improvisation withStephen Nachmanovitch.

5:00 p.m. Exhibition and vendors’room closes.

5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Dinner on yourown.

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Location to beannounced. Evening recital partone with Diana Gannett, Hutchinssmall bass, and John Ellis, piano;part two; Theodore Mook, tenor;Akua Dixon, baritone; DominicDuval, small bass. Free to mem-bers.

November 2, 2005: Wednesday7:30 - 9:30 a.m. Breakfast Buf-fet, Max’s Restaurant.


9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Rehears-als, State Theatre. Octet playersand soloists only---closed tomembers and the public.

9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Ballroom.General Session presenting Sci-entific and Technical Papers. A.Thomas King, moderator.“The Cremonese Method of F-Hole Placement”, A. ThomasKing;“Coumarin; Time vs. Stiffness inSeasoned Spruce,” Edwin R.Fitzgerald;“CT Scanning of Violins”, SteveSirr and John Waddle;“Tone Quality and Harmonic


OCTET 2005: The Premiere Conventionof the New Violin Family Association

October 30, 2005: Sunday1:00 p.m. Lobby, Ithaca Down-town Holiday Inn. Registrationbegins; check in to your room:continues all day.

7:30 p.m. Ballroom. Receptionand welcoming address by Presi-dent Paul Laird. Recital byNorman Fischer, baritone andtenor violins; Wendy Olson-Posner, soprano and mezzo vio-lins; and Nathan Cook, alto vio-lin; with composer GabrielaFrank. Hors d’ oeuvres beforeand two-hour cash bar after.

October 31, 2005: Monday7:30 - 9:30 a.m. Breakfast Buf-fet, Max’s Restaurant.


9:30 a.m. Ballroom. General Ses-sion. Moderator to be announced.Comparison of conventional andoctet instruments; playing dem-onstrations.

12:00 p.m. Board Room. Lun-cheon meeting of NVFA officersand trustees.


2:00 p.m. Board Room. Luthier’sworkshop on basic plate tuning.Alan Carruth and Thomas Knatt,leaders. Also Joseph Conrad, PioMontanari, and Joris Wouters (ro-tating).

2:00 p.m. Seneca. PerformanceWorkshop with members of theHutchins Consort, Albert Con-

Daily Schedule

Stefan Smith has beencommissioned to write a work fortreble violin by Chien Tan, whowill premiere the piece in thespring of 2005. A compositionstudent and a viola major at theDePaul University School ofMusic in Chicago, Smith hasalready written 2 symphonies, 3concertos, and a score for theindie film Death of Noir. He iscurrently writing a film score tothe feature ”Bloom.”

Akua Dixon played her baritoneviolin at William PatersonUniversity in Paterson (NJ) latelast year, premiering a new jazzwork by Rufus Reid. The workwas played again in Decemberat the Schenectady (NY)Community College. Dixon saysthe baritone violin has been agreat addition to her acousticjazz work over the last 15 yearsbecause it allows her to play withthe saxophone or trombonewithout the need foramplification. Learn more at<www.akuadixon.com>.

by Beethoven, Schumann, andBrahms and drew a large and ap-preciative audience of Kendalresidents, their guests, and mem-bers of the Ithaca community.Event officials at Kendal ran outof chairs and said that they hadnever seen such a large crowdturn out for a duo.

Chien Tan continues to breaknew boundaries as she integratesmultimedia and technology withthe acoustically unique trebleviolin. Tan’s long project to createa music video is complete (seephoto of cover, above). This shortfilm of Tan playing Vivaldi’s“Goldfinch” was directed byPortland (OR) filmmakerTakafumi Uehara in the airyinterior of Montgomery Park, andshows Tan playing the treble violinas she strolls over airbridges andrides glass-walled elevators to theaccompaniment of strings playedby members of the OregonSymphony and a computer-animated goldfinch. DavidStabler, music critic of theOregonian, said that the musichad “sparkle.” A DVD is availabledirectly from Tan and also fromthe CD Baby online store. Thisspring, Tan was interviewed byRobert Siegal on National PublicRadio’s “All Things Considered.”<www.trebleviolin.com>


People in the News

Stephen Nachmanovitch, aconcert improvisor on acousticand electric violin and viola,prefers to play an instrument to“find the sounds it wants to make,”rather than forcing it to fit arbitraryneeds. He has played a greatmany ancient and moderninstruments and finds that hisfavorite is now a Hutchins mezzoviolin. Nachmanovitch says “theinstrument has elicited wonderfrom everyone who has heard it.It has a throatier, richer, and morepowerful sound than aconventional violin. Listenersremark that the sound sourceseems to be not the instrument,but the entire room.”

Nachmanovitch has collaboratedwith artists in other mediaincluding music, dance, theaterand film. He has published anumber of articles and is theauthor of Free Play: Improvisationin Life and Art (Penguin-Putnam,1990). He will be part of anevening recital at the NVFAConvention this fall, inperformance with jazz playerDominic Duval on the Hutchinssmall bass, cellist and baritoneplayer Akua Dixon, and cellistand tenor player Ted Mook.

Agnes Kory, of the Béla BartókCentre for Musicianship inLondon, performed on herrestored tenor violin before anaudience of about 300 people atKing’s College, London on April22, 2004. Kory said, “To mysurprise and delight, myinstrument and its soundgenerated a lot of excitement andpleasure.” Kory published apaper on the tenor violin in the1994 Galpin Society Journal.

Elisa Evett presented a recitalon the baritone violin, accompa-nied by pianist RosalindFeinstein. The performance wasgiven on July 19, 2004, in the au-ditorium of Kendal at Ithaca (NY).The program consisted of works

available on Iridia records, whichfeatures music from both thetraditional literature for doublebass and some premieres ofcontemporary music. Gannettalso studied with C. M. Hutchinsand has built several octetinstruments, including the basson which she now performs.

Laurie Conrad of Ithaca, NY hascomposed three works for newfamily instruments: her Elegiequintet was premiered bymembers of the Albert Consort onNovember 30, 2003, and herQuintet No. 2 was likewise givenits first performance by the AlbertConsort on March 13, 2005.Through Conrad’s efforts, notice

Gabriela Lena Frank, anoteworthy young Californiacomposer, visited C. M. Hutchinsin Wolfeboro in September 2004with Julie Yoon and GregBeaver of the Chiara Quartet(now in residence at Julliard). Allwere excited and enthusiasticabout the octet instruments.Frank is currently exploring thepossibility of establishing aquartet of new violins at RiceUniversity, her alma mater, andwriting a composition for thegroup. Norman Fischer islearning the tenor violin, and hisgraduate student, cellist NathanCook, has taken on the alto.Wendy Olsen-Posner, a violinist,will study both the mezzo andsoprano violins, and wants tolearn the treble if she can get one!Frank, Fischer, Olsen-Posner,and Cook will present the openingnight recital at the NVFAConvention in Ithaca this fall.

Diana Gannet, professor ofmusic at Michigan University, willbe a featured recital soloist at theNVFA Convention this fall. Inaddition to holding the first Yaledoctorate ever awarded in doublebass, Gannett has recentlyreleased a new CD, Ladybass,

New Violin Family Association Newsletter 11P

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of this work (and wonderfulpublicity for the new family)appeared in the March issue ofthe Strad Magazine, a greatbreakthrough. Conrad’s thirdpiece, Prayer to St. Michael, stillin manuscript, is scored for thefull octet and concert choir.Conrad is a former concertpianist and has studiedcomposition with Karel Husa.

Linda Case has joined the AlbertConsort as treble violinist. Thisbrings the group to seven playersin size, with only a contrabassneeded to make it the eighth fulloctet in existence. Case currentlyplays a treble violin on loan fromC. M. Hutchins.

Pio Montanari of Genoa, Italyreports his progress on the ItalianOctet. A treble, soprano, andmezzo violin are complete whilea tenor (in rear) needs onlyfittings. On the right in the photocan be seen an alto violin in thewhite. Bravo, Pio! When Pio is notcreating octet violins, he assists

in the maintenance of historicalinstruments owned by themunicipality of Genoa, includinga violin by Guarneri del Jesu, the“cannon,” once owned by NicoloPaganini.

Grigori Sedukh, treble violinvirtuoso of St. Petersburg,Russia, reports that he played afive-day tour in Japan thatincluded the cities of Osaka, OmiMaiko, Moriyama, Kyoto, andTokyo. Sedukh was in Japan fromFebruary 11 to the 16th. Amongthe selections he performed wereexcerpts from Tchaikovsky’s“Children’s Album,” “Seasons,”and “Swan Lake.” Other worksfrom Scarlatti, Bach, Paganini,Wieniawski, and Bloch were alsoperformed.

We are pleased to report thatSedukh has been given time offfrom his duties in the St.Petersburg Symphony and will bein Ithaca, NY to attend OCTET2005. He is scheduled to give amaster class for treble violinistsand those who want to play thetreble violin. Sedukh’s masterclass students will include LindaCase, Chien Tan, and WendyOlsen-Posner.


Our readership questionnaire yielded a 6% response with replies coming from 17 states, the District of Columbia,and 7 foreign countries. Never let it be said that NVFA members are just an average bunch of folks.

Who We AreSixty-eight percent of you said“instrument making” was whatinterested you most, while 63%said “acoustical research.”Playing stringed instrumentsinterested 35 percent. Historicaltopics polled a surprisingly large28%, with music appreciationgarnering 20% and composingmusic a good 9 percent.

Instrument makers comprise thebulk of our membership at 26%,while 20% each are eithermusicians or researchers. In themix we had three historians, twophysicists, two teachers, severalacousticians, and at least onecomposer.

About 42% were interested in“all” the octet instruments, 22%percent picked the alto as ofmost interest, 11% each for thetenor and mezzo, and from 2%to 9% for the other instrumentsin the set.

Nearly 36% of you played noinstrument at all, but among the64% who did, violinists were byfar the most numerous by almost4:1 with amateur playersoutnumbering professionals by a

3:1 margin. Our members play31 different instruments!

An overwhelming 91% of youwanted to be notified of eventswhere octet instruments arefeatured, which is reflected in thenew concert and events calendaron the NVFA web site.

Nearly 74% percent of you areon the Internet, but over half saidthat you rarely or never visitedthe NVFA website. However,71% thought that having awebsite was important, andhaving a newsletter wasimportant to 76% of you.

Despite your familiarity withelectronic technology, 66% stillprefer your newsletter in printedform. Of the 16% who preferredelectronic delivery, about half liveoutside the United States.

Creating octet instruments ledthe list for the activity you wouldbe most likely to support (40%),while school outreach andlectures and demonstrationsdrew 31% and 29% support,respectively. Concerts also drewa strong response at 24%, and

there was a good showing forcommissioning new works(16%). Some wrote down theirsupport for acoustic researchand also for creating recordings.

The results in general seem toindicate that you want a lot ofinformation about the NVFA andoctet instruments, and that youare ready to attend concerts thatfeature the octet as a set or insmaller groupings. With regardto subject matter deemed mostdesirable for inclusion in thenewsletter, 95% of respondentschecked at least one category,and the difference between themost-requested and least-requested topics was notnumerically great.

News of instrument makers ledthe list with 55%, while acousticalresearch made a strong second-place showing with 52 percent.In a surprising third was the“historical” category (36%)followed by the events calendar(34%). News of future plans andprogress was just a point behind(33%), with reports of ensembleslogged at 28% and the relatedcategory of individual performers

at 26 percent. It is worth pointingout that the numerical spreadbetween the first and last placeswas relatively small. Some 36%said to let the editor decide.

The showing for both historicaland acoustical research is notsurprising given that the initialmailing list was built upon aselected group from the oldCatgut Acoustical Society.Doubtless our association iscurrently in a period of greatchange and renewal, and thenext survey a year or two downthe road should begin to show inwhat direction we’re going.

When the NVFA reconstituteditself several years ago, it was anassociation that had a largemailing list but no members. Wegot off to a slow start during thedisruption caused by therelocation of the central office.After the first year we had onlyabout 50 members. At present,membership has increased toabout 125, and the rostercontinues to grow.

Thanks to all who took the timeto complete and return our

survey.

Octet Order Update

We have the latest infor-mation from the central office onthe sales of octet blue-line draw-ings through the first six monthsthe NVFA was organized. Themezzo appears to have sur-passed the alto as the most-re-

quested plan, although not bymuch. followed by the soprano,bass, baritone, treble and contra-bass.

Treble 4Soprano 9Mezzo 26Alto 23Tenor 11Baritone 5Bass 8Contrabass 4


October 2004 Board Meeting

The meeting was called to orderin Wolfeboro, NH at 11:10 a.m.,Saturday, October 23, by Paul R.Laird in the absence of InterimPresident R. J. Miller and Vice-President Joseph Conrad.Executive Director C. M. Hutchinsjoined the meeting briefly.

Current trustees present includedFrances Furlong, Ted Jones, PaulLaird, F. Scott Ponicsan, andPamela Proscia. Also presentwere Association Secretary andDirector of Development LouisaJones, adviser Thomas Knatt,newsletter editor Robert Spear,James Weigel, and JorisWouters. Margaret Sachter andTim Trott participated by meansof a conference call, but a poorconnection made it difficult for allparties to hear each other.

Changes in the Board.The resignations of GodfreyHoward, Robert Miller, andQuincy Whitney were unani-mously accepted. Elected to theboard for one-year terms wereElias Abelson, John Cavanaugh,Daniel Heifetz, Theodore Jones,Scott Ponicsan, MargaretSachter, and Lin Tollefsen.Elected for two-year terms wereSharon McNalley, JosephMcNalley, Edith Munro, JosephPeknik III, Dean Richardson, andTim Trott. Elected for three-yearterms were Joseph Conrad,Frances Furlong, Paul Laird,André P. Larsen, Pamela Proscia,and Charles Rooney. In succeed-ing years, all trustees will servethree-year terms, but only one-third will be elected in any givenyear.

Election of Officers, Advisers.The trustees elected officers fromamong their number, after whichthe creation of a standing advi-sory board was approved. Thenon-voting advisers will serve asconsultants to the NVFA and at-tend board meetings. Eighty-oneindividuals were invited to be-come advisers, and to date 14have accepted. All officers, trust-ees, and members of the advisoryboard are listed on page two.

Treasurer’s Report.At the close of the fiscal year onSeptember 30, 2004 NVFA had arevenue shortfall of $3,928.35.Treasurer Rooney noted that thiswas an improvement over thedeficit of $8,685.14 reported inJune. While the pace of contribu-tions has increased, Rooneypointed out that two-thirds of theassociation’s income is throughpayments by Carleen Hutchins onthe liens of unsold instruments.This advances money to theNVFA while postponing paymentto Hutchins until the instrumentsare sold. Liens have declined inthe last year from $59,000 to$49,000, and Rooney warnedthat the revenues from this sourcewill not last indefinitely.

Convention Report.The convention planned for Ith-aca, NY at the end of October2005 was the subject of R. J.Spear’s lengthy report. Much dis-cussion was given to the scopeand timing of the undertaking, butat last it was decided to continueas planned given that firm datesalready had been secured forlodging, performance venues,

and the availability of performingartists. Spear requested that com-mittees be formed to assist himwith national and international ad-vertising and publicity, and to helphim secure sponsors for specificportions of the event. MargaretSachter suggested that a steer-ing committee would be desir-able, and one was formed underPresident Laird.

Music Publishing.Our association has need of vol-unteers to enter octet composi-tions into computer music nota-tion programs or to obtain fund-ing to hire individuals to do thiswork. The exact number of octetcompositions is unknown sincerecords kept at the central officedo not include all of the work doneby Robert Miller, Joe McNalley,Robert Spear, Grigori Sedukh,and others. The lack of musicalworks on the association web siteis a cause of concern, and for re-production of these pieces it willbe necessary to convert them todigital format as we are now do-ing with our technical drawingsand photographic archives.

Pamela Proscia raised a ques-tion about the quality of the com-positions and asked whether theywould be acceptable to profes-sional players. In the general dis-cussion that followed, there wasa feeling that music appropriateto all levels of performing abilityshould be in our catalog. A sub-committee of Trustees Laird,Proscia, Nersasian, Jones, andRichardson will review the libraryto asses the level of technical dif-ficulty each piece presents.

Fundraising.With the number of viable optionsfor advancement of the Octetsteadily increasing, the discus-sion of raising funds to supportour efforts occupied much of theremainder of the meeting. Theboard ate lunch at the boardroomtable so that discussion would notbe interrupted, and the variouspoints presented were often inter-esting and useful.

Some old ground was gone overagain, but there is a feeling thatmore expertise is needed eitheron the board itself or on the panelof advisers. Fundraisers with pro-fessional experience would beespecially helpful if they also hada personal interest in furtheringthe goals of the NVFA. Manytrustees felt that we should firstestablish an endowment so thatthe daily operations of the cen-tral office would enjoy a steadyand reliable source of funding.Treasurer Rooney has said thata minimum endowment of$500,000 would be needed justto continue daily operations asthey currently stand.

The meeting was adjourned at3:00 p.m. The next meeting is ten-tatively scheduled for Wolfeboroat 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April16, 2005.

NVFA Members will find a moredetailed recounting in the officialMinutes of this meeting that areposted in the Members section ofour web site.

Morton Hutchins passed awaypeacefully on the morning ofNovember 8, 2004 at SunbridgeCare in Wolfeboro (NH) at the ageof 94. Mort had been in poorhealth from the affects of a strokehe suffered seven years earlierand required constant care.

Mort was born in Melrose (MA),the son of George A. Hutchinsand Gladys Franksford Aldrich.He earned a chemistry degreefrom Harvard in 1933 andintended to enter a doctoralprogram at MIT, but the realitiesof the Depression caused him toseek a job at Dupont instead. Theday of the interview brought bittercold, howling winds, and heavysnow. Mort was the only one toshow up, and he got the job.

After World War II began, Mortdeveloped materials that helpedsoldiers burned in combat to healfaster. The US governmentconsidered this work so importantthat he received a deferment frommilitary service to continue it, andhis compounds may have savedthousands of lives. Mort alsoworked on developing lucite forcataract implants. He observed

that the eyes ofA m e r i c a nairmen injuredby lucitefragments fromaircraft windowsdid not reject theforeign materialor becomeinfected.

Mort metCarleen Maley of Montclair (NJ)when the two were summering inTuftonboro near LakeWinnipesaukee in central NewHampshire. They were married inJune, 1943 and hand-built theirsummer cottage on Tuftonboroneck from trees blown down ontheir property by the greathurricane of 1938.

Mort gets credit for startingCarleen in the world of violinacoustics by suggesting that ifshe did not like the sound of herstudent viola, he would supporther if she wanted to try buildingone. Mort’s commitment to thispromise never wavered.December 1943 found thenewlyweds in a rented New YorkCity apartment. Carleen had gonecaroling with friends and Mort,alone in the rooms, discoveredthat the building’s ancient wiringhad set their Christmas tree onfire. Only after removingCarleen’s viola to a place of safetydid Mort extinguish the blaze!

Mort and Carleen had twochildren, William “Bill” Aldrich,born in 1947, and Caroline“Cassie” Hutchins, born in 1950.


Morton Aldrich HutchinsMay 6, 1910 - November 8, 2004

About the time of Cassie’s arrival,Mort left Dupont for a position atHercules Powder where he hadcharge of their plastics coloringsection. Mort’s involvement withthe Catgut Acoustical Society(CAS), predecessor of the NewViolin Family Association,increased markedly after hisretirement from Hercules in 1973.His background in chemistryproved useful to his wife in herwork developing the New ViolinFamily Octet. Mort eventuallyauthored five papers published inthe CAS Journal and was co-author of several that appearedin other publications.

He worked on varnish colors,grounds, and the effects ofhumidity on wood, culminating ina series of violins made from non-traditional woods. Mort took hishumidity measurements with asling psychrometer. He wouldwalk through the workshop, thedevice whizzing madly above hishead, while his wife’s violin-making students sought refugeunder their benches.

Mort also participated in somememorable projects including thedevelopment of a glue that wouldhold a spruce bass bar to agraphite-epoxy violin plate andanother glue that would hold thealuminum ribs of the first trebleviolin to its wooden top and back.

Mort’s patience was boundless--and it often needed to be. TheCatgut Society took over his sunporch to use as an office, his wifetook over his garage to teach her

violin-making classes, herstudents took over his kitchen toprepare their meals, and his catstook over the best chairs in theliving room. Mort knew how tonegotiate a settlement; everyonegot the space they needed, andon many afternoons the catsenjoyed their nap on Mort’s lap.

Mort was conservative when itcame to using chemicals in theenvironment. When he found atermite tunnel through theconcrete and stucco of hisfoundation wall in Montclair, hespent days with a small hammerand a fine chisel following thetunnel to its end rather thansimply poisoning the insects.Termites are persistent creatures,but they met their match in Mort.One class member recalled thatMort was the only chemist heknew that grew his vegetablegarden without chemicals!

Those fortunate enough to haveknown Mort will always recall hisquiet but slightly impish presencein the household where he tookcare of numerous details othersconsidered trivial or unpleasant.Yet it was this contribution thatmade Mort the unsung hero of thenew violin family; without hissupport Carleen could not havedone half of what she did.

Mort was laid to rest at theTownhouse Cemetery inTuftonboro on November 11,2004. Donations in his memorymay be made to the Morton A.Hutchins Fund of the New ViolinFamily Association.

Did “Stratovarius” ReallyMake an Alto Violin??Blabbermouth.net, a forum on theRoadrunner Records web site,reports a posting on the BlackSabbath web site revealing thatFinnish singer Timo Kotipelto per-formed several classic heavy-metal “covers” with Finland’sHeavy Lilja Orchestra on August26, 2004 at the Manala Bar inHelsinki. The report continuesthat in the orchestra were onecello, one flute, and an alto vio-lin. An audience member wrotethat the “arrangements wereamazingly good, the songs werein new form,” and that “the newmaker must have been a realNero.”

If anyone knows who either the“alto violin” player or the “newmaker” is, please let us know,and, by all means, encouragethem to become members of theNew Violin Family Association!

Lighter Moments


News in Brief

Let’s Have Another Look atthat Top Plate ScalingEquation, Shall We?

Robert J. Miller, past NVFA in-terim president, suffered seriousinjuries from an accident that oc-curred in his home over the 2004Thanksgiving holiday. Miller toldus that he was in the attic overthe garage gathering Christmasdecorations when he got his feettangled in some cords and fellbackwards through the ceiling tothe concrete floor below. Hislengthy list of injuries included twoskull fractures, a massive concus-sion, loss of sight in his left eye,nerve damage, and brain trauma,among other wounds.

Miller says he is now on themend, but will still need surgeryand physical therapy on his leftarm before he can conduct again.Miller served the NVFA as firstvice-president and later as interimpresident during the difficult pe-riod of transition between 2001and 2004. He also created andmaintained the NVFA web siteduring that time, composed andarranged over 200 pieces for vari-ous combinations of the new vio-lin family, and was instrumentalin creating some of theassociation’s most popular CDs.Miller says he was glad when theyear was over and hopes neverto have another like it. We hopeyou never do, either, Bob, and wewish you a rapid recovery.

Consorts Reconstitute.Four members of the California-based Hutchins Consort have re-signed, says consort founder andbassist, Joe McNalley. Originalmembers remaining besideMcNalley include bassist FredCharlton, who now becomes thegroup’s resident composer, OmarFirestone, tenor, and IgorTchetchko, soprano. Joining asnew members are Geoff Gartner,baritone; Carolyn Tyler, alto; andEthan Busteed, mezzo. Thetreble violin position is still open.

New York’s Albert Consort is alsoemerging from a similar period ofreorganization. Founding mem-bers Carrie Reuning-Hummel,mezzo; Sera Smolen, tenor; andLizzy Evett, baritone; will bejoined by new players LindaCase, treble: Jaime Kibelsbeck;alto, and Michael Fitipaldi, bass.Reuning-Hummel will move tosoprano, and the mezzo will beplayed by Bill Hurley. A player forthe contrabass will be found whenthe instrument, which is currentlyunder construction, is completed.

New Web Address.Webmaster Tim Trott has secured<www.nvfa.org> for our use. Ournew web address will be closerto the term that most membersactually use and may be easierto remember. The old address<http://www.newviolinfamily.org>will still be fully functional, accord-ing to Trott.

Web Site a Success!We have figures for the year end-ing December 31, 2004 that indi-cate our web site is a success.Figures supplied by WebmasterTim Trott show that the numberof visitors to our site has nearlydoubled from 37 per day in Au-gust to 64 per day in December,2004. Over 60,000 requests fordata were received by the hostserver with more than 45,000 filesreturned (the server makes nodistinction if the data requestedis a web page, an order for a CD,or a .pdf newsletter download).These numbers mount up quickly.Total visits for the five monthsending December 31, 2004 cameto more than 6,500!

New Violin Family Association web site usage graph for the yearending December 31, 2004

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

The New Violin Family Association, Inc. 42 Taylor Drive

Wolfeboro, NH 03894phone: 603 569 7946

email: <[email protected]>

This Issue: FOCUS on the INTERNATIONAL

Aust, U.K. Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Belgian Octet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Editorial, Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3Australian Octet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Luthier’s Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Convention Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . 9People in the News . . . . . . . . . . . 10October Board Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Morton A. Hutchins . . . . . . . . . . . . 14NVFA News in Brief . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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Visit us on the Web! http://www.nvfa.orgThe NVFA web site is hosted by Cyberchute. <www.cyberchute.com.> Web design by WEBicity. <www.webicity.com>

OCTET 2005First International ConventionCelebrating the Hutchins New Violin Family

October 30- November 3, 2005Downtown Holiday Inn

Ithaca, New York 14850

Fill Your Plate with Knowledge.For starters, there will be apractical session on plate tuningthat runs the entire time!

It’s the Whole Country Wide!We have groups and performerscoming from New York, Texas,Michigan, Oregon, and California.Violin makers from New York,Michigan, and Maryland will bepresent. We’re losing count!

It Really is International!Treble violin virtuoso GrigoriSedukh from St. Petersburg,Russia highlights our list of guestartists and teachers. ComposerRoddy Skeaping from London willhave you writing and arranging forthe octet before you know it. Octetmakers Joris Wouters fromBelgium and Pio Montanari fromItaly will also attend and bringnews of their work in Europe.

Music and more.Ever wondered what the realdistinctions are between octetand conventional violins? You’llhear the difference on the firstday! There is at least one recitalscheduled every night of theconvention, and a gala closingconcert that features soloists andan augmented double octet in aconcert you’ll long remember.

We Haven’t Forgotten Science.Five scientific and technicalpapers will be presented on avaried range of topics selected toprovide the violin maker with themost practical and usefulknowledge for octet building.

See Page 9 Inside for More.Please join us in Ithaca onOctober 30. For more information,visit our web site, www.nvfa.org.

Many exciting and unusual events are plannedfor our members and guests:

violin octet - octavivo

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