Southern Violin Association
association of violin makers in the Western Hemisphere

Bulletins

BULLETIN - JANUARY 2021

ANNOUNCING THE 3RD BIENNIAL

VIOLIN MAKERS' COMPETITION

SPRING 2021


****WITH LIVE STREAMING****


PREPARE YOUR ENTRIES FOR OUR THIRD BIENNIAL

OPEN INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN MAKERS COMPETITION

OUR TARGET DATE IS FIRST OF MAY, 2021, IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A.

THE SOUTHERN VIOLIN ASSOCIATION IS PREPARING TO HOST ITS THIRD COMPETITION AROUND THE FIRST OF MAY 2021. IT WILL BE HELD IN THE CITY OF ATLANTA.


WE ARE CURRENTLY PLANNING TO LIVE STREAM MOST OF THE COMPETITION WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCUSS THE PROCESS WITH MEMBERS AS THE JUDGES GO THROUGH THEIR ROUTINES.



ALL ENTRIES WILL NEED TO BE DELIVERED NOT LATER THAN FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE CONFERENCE. THIS COMPLIES WITH RECOMMENDED COVID-19 GUIDELINES FOR THE LIFESPAN OF THE VIRUS ON WOOD AND MOST RELATED OBJECTS. THIS ALLOWS THE JUDGES TO HANDLE THE INSTRUMENTS.


  1. THIS WILL BE VIOLINS AND VIOLAS ONLY

  2. INSTRUMENTS MUST BE LESS THAN 2 YEARS OLD

  3. A MAXIMUM OF TWO INSTRUMENTS MAY BE ENTERED IN THE COMPETITION. THEY MAY BE IN THE SAME CATEGORY (I.E. TWO VIOLINS OR TWO VIOLA) OR SPLIT - ONE VIOLIN AND ONE VIOLA.

  4. OTHERWISE RULES FROM LAST COMPETITION REMAIN THE SAME,

  5. INSTRUMENTS MUST BE OWNER-INSURED. WE WILL HANDLE THEM WITH THE SAME CARE WE WOULD DEVOTE TO OUR OWN INSTRUMENTS, HOWEVER THE ASSOCIATION TAKES NO LIABILITY FOR INSTRUMENTS LOST, DAMAGED, OR DESTROYED.


IN ADDITION TO FIRST, SECOND, THIRD PLACE AWARDS IN BOTH WORKMANSHIP AND TONE, WE WILL ALSO AWARD A NOVICE AWARD TO THE HIGHEST RATED VIOLIN AND VIOLA SUBMITTED BY A "NOVICE" MAKER (HAVING COMPLETED NO MORE THAN TEN INSTRUMENTS AT THE TIME OF THE COMPETITION.)


THERE WILL BE A SOUTHERN MAKER AWARD GIVEN TO THE HIGHEST RATED VIOLIN AND VIOLA SUBMITTED BY A SOUTHERN MAKER (SEE RULES).


SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE IN THE COMING WEEKS, BUT YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED TO HAVE YOUR ENTRIES COMPLETED BY EARLY APRIL.


JUDGES FOR WORKMANSHIP WILL INCLUDE JAIME GONZALES OF MEXICO, FIRST PLACE WINNER IN OUR 2019 COMPETITION. TONE JUDGES WILL COME FROM THE ATLANTA SYMPHONY, AND WILL LIKELY INCLUDE OUR OLD FRIEND, JUAN RAMIREZ, TONE JUDGE FOR OUR PREVIOUS TWO COMPETITIONS. WE ARE STILL WORKING ON VENUE AND JUDGING STAFF.


LET US KNOW IF YOU INTEND TO SUBMIT ENTRIES BY NUMBER AND TYPE -- PLEASE EMAIL THE COMPETITION COMMITTEE. THIS WILL HELP US WITH OUR PLANNING.


We will post updates and more information over the coming months on our webpage. Click here for Website

BULLETIN #18

SUBJECT: ANNUAL MEETING

April 23-24, 2016 The next annual meeting of the Southern Violin Association will be held on April 23 and 24 (a Saturday and Sunday) in 2016. The venue will be Georgia’s School of Music at the University of Georgia at Athens. The meeting will begin at 10am on the 23d. Parking will be at Lot E111 (it says by permit only, but that doesn’t apply on the weekends), and we’ll have sign directing you to the venue which will be inside the building directly in front of the parking lot.

Last year’s meeting was standing room only, with at least 37 participants. We hope to repeat that this year. Last year’s meeting was too short, not enough time for lunch, not enough time to let every speaker make a full presentation, and not enough time just getting together and having some good interaction and making new contacts. So this year, we’ve set aside two days, and an evening, to have a chance to really get together and have a good time getting to know each other.

Speakers will include Kelvin Scott, a multiple gold medal winner in international competitions at the Violin Society of American, and bronze medal winner at the Triennial competition in Cremona. Also making a presentation will be Jerry Pasewicz, internationally respected violin restorer. I’m also hoping Pablo Alfaro, who got cut short last meeting, will consider repeating, and expanding his presentation of repair techniques. We’ll have other speakers involved as well, and we’re putting an itinerary together now.

The meeting will begin with our annual business meeting. Importantly, my tenure as President and Board Member will be concluding, and for personal reasons, I am hoping that candidates will step forward to become new board members and let me participate as a regular member in the future. Please let me know if you would like to become a member of the board, or continue as a board member.

We’re also looking at several venues for an evening meal together, and hoping to find a restaurant that offers something new and unusual, since we’re travelling so far, and committing so much time to the meeting, the evening meal should also be a worthwhile event of its own. For lunch, check out “The Blind Pig” http://www.blindpigtavern.com/ index.html

For dinner, we have a couple possibilities, so let me know if you like one better than the other, and we’ll set something up. www.fiveandten.com is 4.4 stars, a little pricey but highly rated.     www.trappezepub.com 4.8 stars, beer, barbeque, fish &and finally, http://lastresortgrill.com/menu_dinner.html The Last Resort Grill, menu and prices right. If you know of something even better, and unique, let me know. I’m hoping we can get a banquet room or area so all of us can spend more time together. I’ll let you know of accommodations over the next month or so, or if you find something nice, convenient, and reasonable, let me know.

Got any other ideas, let me know.

2017 COMPETITION:

Keep in mind that we’re also planning to have our first competition in 2017, probably again at the University of Georgia at Athens. However, we have options if you want to weigh in. There’s a great retreat here in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, called “Wild Acres” http://www.wildacres.org/ that would be a lot of fun. If I get enough interest (and we’ll make a decision at the meeting in April) we can set up something with this facility and do it in mid-summer as well, to make it even more worthwhile for our Southern members.

We’ll be updating information on our website over the course of the year on rules (although they’ve been substantially formulated on the website already.

Finally, let’s use our Facebook page to get feedback to me on restaurants, topics, whether or not you’ll attend, and y can also see what others are saying. Just look for us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SouthernViolinAssociation/

See you in Athens!!

David Chandler

davidwchandler@outlook.com

828-675-0449

President, Southern Violin Association

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