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THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS SINCE 1957
For immediate release
Lara St. John and Judy Kan, Winners of the Canada Council for the Arts' National Competition for the Loan of Two Stradivarius Violins
Ottawa, 10 September 1997 -- The Canada Council for the Arts is pleased to announce that Lara St. John, from London, Ontario, and Judy Kang, from Edmonton, are the winners of the competition for the loan of two Stradivarius violins from the Canada Council for the Arts' Musical Instrument Bank. The two violinists were presented with their instruments by Donna Scott, Chairman of the Canada Council, today at a news conference and reception held in The Great Hall of the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto.
In congratulating the winners, Donna Scott also paid tribute to the members of the competition jury for their skill and hard work, and thanked the anonymous donor who loaned the two magnificent violins to the Musical Instrument Bank. "I am very proud that the Canada Council for the Arts has been given the privilege of administering the loan of these exceptional instruments, and I am very glad that these two gifted young Canadian violinists will have the opportunity to use them as they further what promise to be brilliant concert careers."
The two instruments, the 1689 Baumgartner Stradivarius and the 1702 Lyall Stradivarius, together with a 1729 Guarneri del Gesu, were sold earlier this year by the University of Western Ontario to a US business person. The purchaser, who does not wish to be identified, has generously offered to loan the instruments to the Council's Musical Instrument Bank for a two-year period. The competition for the third violin will be held at a later date as it is currently undergoing restoration.
In his letter of congratulations to the winners, the donor said, "When I purchased the violins from the University of Western Ontario this spring, I had many reasons for wanting to take them from the vault where they had lain "asleep" and unplayed for years. My friend, Norm Hathaway, who loves violins and music as much as I do, convinced me that my investment would reap wonderful dividends by "awakening" these instruments, putting them in the talented hands of Canadian violinists and allowing the Canadian public to hear them once again."
The competition jury comprised Montreal cellist Denis Brott, who holds the Canada Council's 1706 Brott-Turner Tecchler cello and was a key figure in getting the Instrument Bank started; Angele Dubeau, an internationally acclaimed violinist who has her own Stradivarius; and Jacques Israelievitch, concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jury members selected the two winners from among five finalists. In it's decision, the jury had the following remarks about Lara St. John: "Today we have heard one of the great violinists of our times. Inspirational!"
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