Great post!

Hi Sheila, Love your site. Would you consider adding my site for people looking for teachers in the Chicago area?

je suis la petite fille de Marie Lecavellé, soeur de Victor Lecavellé domicilié rue de France à Béziers, enfants de Florent Xavier Lecavellé(1808/1858).

Thank you for the great piece on my grandfather, Dave Rubinoff, also known as "Rubinoff & His Violin"! This is the nicest thing I have found about him on the internet & I appreciate the effort you made in finding info & photos.I could close my eyes & picture my grandfather playing, when I found an MP3 of Rubinoff & His Violin during my web surfing. If you would like to check it out, it is at:
http://www.chambermusicexpress.com/samples.htm

Aloha Sheila,
Just want to thank you so much for your wonderful website. You really are an amazing person. Thanks for all you do. If you ever make it out to Hawaii please look us up.

Your website is outstanding! What a wealth of knowledge you have shared.
I will certainly be making use of many of your teaching recommendations. I know many who will benefit from hearing of your website. Thank you!

Very informative and useful site!! Congrats for making all your hard work available!

Wonderful site. I was doing a search for Fritz Kreisler when I found it.
Thank you.

Andy Zaplatynsky
Concertmaster
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

Love your website, Sheila! I was referred to it by Roger Mace, and included it in our Suzuki school newsletter ( www.suzukicolumbus.org in case you'd like to see it).

Wow! There's so much I could say about your site but I'll simply say THANK YOU! I live in the Whitsundays (Queensland, Australia), and being a little remote it is very difficult to gain access to teachers. In fact the teacher I have at the moment is finishing at the end of this year and the nearest violin teacher will then be almost 2 hours drive away, so your site really was valuable. Thank you for your generousity in sharing your teaching experience.

I have hand make professional quality violins and have over 40 years experience. I would like to place a link on my new web site to your site if you could do the same for me. Sincerely, John Sipe

Sheila!
What a delightful site! I am a violin (and piano) teacher and have spent the last hour going through your site. I have enjoyed it immensely! You have given me some good ideas and even educated me. I will visit again.

I enjoy your 'Sheila's Corner'. I am the widow of Maestro Rubinoff. He must have meant a lot to you, judging your extensive writing of him. If you pull up Barnes & Noble and "Dance of the Russian Peasant" It is my rendition of his life. Sincerely, Dame Rubinoff

I came to your site many years ago and have been to countless music sites since. I have seen absolutely nothing to surpass or even parallel what you have created here. Congratulations, and keep up the fantastic work, Sheila!

Janice G. Augustus

Hi,

I'm a professional violinist up here in BC, Canada. I have been teaching violin privately and playing with the symphony here for some years. My stand partner at the symphony is also an awesome pianist and we get together at times for chamber music. We were debating on a Beethoven but then I heard a friend play parts of the Franck Sonata this past weekend at the symphony during a break and I became all excited to hear this beautiful sonata I had not heard in years. Then I asked my stand partner, "How about the Franck sonata?"...We are both in the mood for something passionate and something we can really "dig our teeth into!" Being French myself, I feel very excited at the prospect of playing this sonata I have actually never played. So it should be quite a treat! So, thank you for your site. I found it to be helpful and informative! I am guessing that you are a violinist yourself?...I often wonder when I play or students play, "Is this what the composer really wanted?" I often ask myself this question when it comes to how we express our feelings through the music...how we do a certain phrasing, how much bow we use, what bowing we use, etc. I guess all we can do is the best we can with the information we have.

Josie, BC., Canada

I enjoyed viewing your website.

Thank you very much for such a nice article about Mr. Perlman. I am his the youngest student and all the things are very nice. I loved to read about him. My name is Ania and I am 12. I have just moved from Poland to study with Maestro Perlman. With warmest regards from NY - Ania Filochowska
P. S. If you have some other interesting articles about famous musicians you always can send to me at aniafilochowska@wp.pl Many thanks, Ania

WONDERFUL PAGE-- MR FULTON HAS DONE A GREAT SERVICE TO THE ART OF THE VIOLIN BY PROVIDING COLLECTORS,MUSICIANS AND VIOLIN MAKERS (LIKE MY SELF)AND BY MAKING THESE WORKS OF VIOLIN ART AVAILABLE FOR GENERATIONS IN THE FUTURE---T. Riegel,violin maker

Dear Sheila,

I just sent an inquiry of sorts, before even beginning to grasp.....the comprhensiveness of your Site.....this is quite incredible ~~ and most humbling!

I believe this not so young music lover has just stumbled upon a gold mine!

Best luck in all you do here and in the wonderful students we get a chance to share a moment with. How incredible,
God Bless!
A music lover and former New Yorker. gk

Hi!
Searched wikipedia on my ancestors, and found that David Fulton owns the violin "Baron Knoop" which I today learned was once in possession by my grandfathers grandfather's (Ludwig Knoop) son Johann Knoop.

Thanks for the interesting info,
Ludvig

i can't remember if i've signed this before! But I agree with Allie (below) that Mrs. Helser is the best teacher ever!! sweet sweet site!!
~A.R.

Terrific summary bio of Dvorak

hey mrs. helser!!!
just wanted to say "hi!"

Nice slideshow!

I have an autographed photo of David Rubinoff that belonged to my father James Harris (1921-1995). You have the identical photo lead in to your Rubinoff article! The signature, when compared with yours is authentic! My father would have been an Oklahoma school boy when he acquired his signed photo of Rubinoff. He must have treasured it, as he kept it framed, under glass for all these years. Dad also played the violin, even performing in the Navy Band aboard the USS Minneapolis during WWII. He never played professionally, however.
Today (2006), while browsing through an old family trunk of keepsakes, I found the Rubinoff again. Now, it will be MY treasure, too! Thank you!

My Mother is the matriarch of the Goding family in Queensland - her great-grandfathers brother was James Goding - collector of Stradivari and Amati violins - he died in 1857 and his collection was sold by his wife Lady Jane Emily - (nee Coventry) - James owned the Red Lion Brewery

I am very impressed by your wonderful website. The information on the different books is very useful for me. I'm a studio teacher and it's sometimes difficult to wade through the large amount of books for violin. I started on viola as a child and only added violin as an undergrad so the intermediate works were almost an unknown to me on violin. Your site has been extremely helpful.

Hi Sheila,

Coming on your site was a cosmic and spititual event, with a little help from Google. I'm an OK amateur violinist and am often teased at Rotary and church events on account of my violin virtuosity or lack thereof, and of course I tease and poke fun at myself all the time as well. It's all good natured. Yesterday at a Rotary fellowship meeting I chaired I offered my services for a promotional skit at an upcoming Rotary luncheon. We would be promoting a Western Theme 5-Club social event. I offered to play Leather Breaches with another Rotarian accompanying me on the banjo. The Club President said that if I could come up with some good licks he'd consider it. I was panicked. I'd heard the term "licks" for years but never really knew what it meant. What to do, what to do? Why not Google "Lick for Fiddle?" Your site was the top of the list. And the words I found answered the question I sought to a T. "Variation, twist, interpretation." Wow, I've been set free. I didn't know it was allowed. Now I have to work on developing skill at licks. I have a violin teacher and take a lesson a week, so next lesson I will begin working on my licks. Thanks.

Regards,
Theo-

OMG THANKS SO MUCH FOR TALKING BOUT TONE COLOURS OF THE VIOLIN!!! it's sooooo hard to find it..and i found it on your page!!
THANKSSS!!!!!!!!

What a great site! I really love your wisdom that its up to each of us to make the world better through our travel own life's presence in it!

All the best,

Gregg

Violin, viola, cello and bass maker (160) since 1955.

Muy buena tu página sobre el violinista H. W.Ernst.
Saludos desde Perú.

bravo et merci pour tous ces violons extraordinaires sur votre site.G.THOMAS prof violon CNR de CAEN Normandie FRANCE

I am 87 years old and was at Walter Reid Hospital many years ago and heard the most wonder sound in this world Rubinoff and his violin play " My Buddy" the hall was crowded and at the end of the sound there was nota dry eye in the Place all Wounded GIs I wish I could be directed to where to find this piece Francis J. Derwi 617 471 5664 fax 617 774 1108 Thank you for the listing of this site

I looked up the "General Kyd" Strad and found your genealogy interesting; you might want to add that this violin for decades belonged to concertmaster Mischa Mischakoff (during his years with the Chicago, NBC, and Detroit symphonies), though he perferred playing on his "Adams" Strad.

This is the nicest site of its kind I have seen, with pictures of the finest instruments I've heard of.
Thanks for doing this for the violinists and collectors.

I am a violin teacher and just stumbled upon your site. I am looking forward to exploring it further. What I have seen so far is wonderful!

Hello Nice site!

There is a lot of movements here, great!
Gretings from a Suzuki school in Sweden. Have a look at: norrkopingsuzuki.se

Love overcome everything. // Ulf

Hello Sheila,

Ever since I found Sarah Chang playing the Vitali Chaconne on youtube, I have been completely addicted. Now I want to get the piece and "try" to sound like her (he he..:) Oh man (woman)...I've heard Sarah on disc before..but these youtube videos of her playing is phenomenal...I'm getting goose bumps..she is of another world..and only 25 yrs old...god's gift I guess..AND THANK YOU for your notes on that Chaconne..I just keep surfing for more on Sarah's playing and now the Vitali piece and came across your Web site. Amazing..the wonders of our modern age..does have some socially redeeming values after all..and this coming from someone who makes a living in the tech world...bye for now - Paula

Your website is amazing! Your photographs are breathtaking!