In 2015, after playing my previous instrument for over 10 years, I finally realized that it is time to move on and I desperately needed a more powerful, 'soloistic' instrument, specially since my main professional activity is playing first violin in my string quartet (Babylon Quartet). Many people around me had instruments from Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds, so I decided to give it a shot too. After selection process and a bit of waiting, I got to try few instruments and initially dismissed this violin by Johannes Franciscus Cuypers (1797) as 'not my kind of instrument' (while recognizing that it got a considerable potential). But the more I played it, the more it revealed its character and in the end it convinced me completely. It is powerful but not boomy, deep but not muted, characterful but not stubborn.
My relationship with this instrument has just started and fully understanding it will undoubtedly take time but I am looking very much forward to my future with this violin. It would not be possible for me to afford an instrument of this caliber if it was not for Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds and the noblest cause that they work for.
