viola

This Jean-Baptiste Lefèbvre viola came to the attention of the Musical Instrument Fund in 2019 through an Amsterdam dealer. The timing was particularly significant because the Musical Instrument Fund had a candidate on its waiting list (Marie-Louise de Jong, violist with the Dudok Quartet) for whom no suitable instrument seemed to be available from the existing collection. The Musical Instrument Fund began preparations for a purchase process that normally involves an extensive selection procedure. However, when Marie-Louise got her hands on this Old Dutch gem to try it out, she immediately felt a strong connection. She played the viola for over a month and conducted various sound tests with her quartet members, also involving other high-quality violas for comparison. The Lefèbvre proved to be a perfect fit in every respect, both for Marie-Louise individually and within the entire quartet. The Musical Instrument Fund showed the viola to several experts, who unanimously agreed that it was a rare and beautiful instrument, unique in its kind due to its substantial size (for that time). An extensive evaluation process was therefore no longer necessary. With this purchase, the Musical Instrument Fund achieves two goals: helping yet another musician find a suitable instrument and preserving a magnificent piece of cultural heritage for Dutch musical life.