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November 2001 NewsletterWelcome to the November 2001 edition of our free e-mail magazine/ newsletter. Please read it in its entirety, as it contains information that could help you. If your teacher does not receive this or does not do e-mail, please give them a copy. It contains important information for teachers too. Please invite your friends to subscribe, too (they could do it on our website, see below). Thanks! Please destroy old business cards and flyers that contain wrong information and ask us for new, up-to-date ones. Please note our correct addresses at the end of this letter. Tax increase: Please note that our county's sales tax (also levied on rentals) increases from 6% to 7% on January 1 2002. 16-24 Thanksgiving Break: Shop in Gainesville closes at 6pm on Fri, Nov 16 (we still visit Orange Park the next day, Sat 11/17) and re-opens Mon, Nov 26 at 1pm. Please do not ship anything to us 11/12 - 11/26, thanks! *** INDEX *** 01. Itinerary _______________________________________________________ Please check our website (www.gviolins.cc) to see our latest itinerary. The website is continually being developed further, so please visit it regularly. _______________________________________________________ 02. RENTAL PROGRAM: WE SHIP EVERYWHERE Please note that we do not have unlimited supplies of rental instruments. Latecomers often have to wait a while before we can help them. Teachers, please consider encouraging your students to purchase instead of renting, where possible. Please plan ahead and send us guesstimates by February-March 2002 about your studio's probable needs for the 2002 school year that starts after summer. Shipping via UPS is easy and secure. We have clusters of customers in Southern California, Denver CO, Illinois, Dallas TX, on Long Island, in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, the entire Florida, and individual customers all over the USA and on five islands. In fact, we have customers on every continent of the planet, except Antarctica! We do rentals in the entire USA. Once again, shipping (even for rental up-scaling to a larger size instrument) presents no problems to us or to our customers. Our website contains copious hints on how to ship. Usually our customers simply re-use our shipping/packing materials to ship to us. The whole rental program is painless! Teachers and students, please let us do what we do best so that you can do what you do best! YOU play and or/teach, and WE supply you with the instruments that you need. Purchase or rent. It is as simple as that. You are completely safeguarded and covered by our amazing guarantees. See our website www.gviolins.cc. _______________________________________________________ 03. THE SEPTEMBER 11 2001 TRAGEDY We would like to express our deepest condolences to all those who have been touched by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. While our hearts go out to all the victims and their families, we would also like to thank the many workers and all those whose efforts have shone so brightly in comforting the nation in these trying times. We offered a limited specially discounted Memorial Edition of our violins regarding this tragic event and undertook to send $20 to the Red Cross for every outfit sold, in the name of customers who bought these outfits and ourselves. We received this letter: "Dear Gainesville Violins and Subscribers to the Memorial Violins: Thank you for your donation of $200.00 to the 911Fund4Relief, American Red Cross National Capital Chapter. Be assured that your special gift is making a real difference in the lives of hurting people. Sincerely, Lee Stebbins and Mark Stein, 911Fund4Relief Committee Co-Chairpersons." One customer wrote: "Dear Gainesville Violins: Bless your hearts for such an immediate, creative, and generous contribution in this hour of shock and need. You are wonderful to galvanize us all to be part of the recovery. Thank you so much for your energy, caring, strength, compassion, and action. God bless you all." We at Gainesville Violins thank all of you who supported this effort. God bless you, God bless America, and God grant us peace. _______________________________________________________ These people know something! - Ed Klein (cello teacher and performer, Gainesville) says: "I own one of the first cello CodaBows ever made. I now own three, two of them bought from Gainesville Violins. They are in my opinion equal to the $7,000 - $12,000 French cello bow that I used to play." - Professor Aaron Krosnick says: "I have had many students from families with moderate incomes. The problem was always one of providing them with an adequate instrument and bow. A fine playing stick at a moderate price was all but unobtainable before the advent of CodaBow with its unbeatable warranty and low price. I heartily recommend it: not only for its price, but also for its predictably good playing qualities. Best wishes, Aaron Krosnick" (Distinguished Performer in Residence, Jacksonville University, FL, and Artist in Residence with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra). - Letter written to the CodaBow Company by a customer and forwarded by CodaBow to Gainesville Violins: "I purchased the CodaBow 'Colours' on the advice of my wonderful instrument dealers in Gainesville, Gainesville Violins - Jan and Anna van Rooyen. I compared the bow I had (which I will never pick up again) and the CodaBow. What a difference! I actually play better. It is so light and balances so well. It is actually like holding nothing! Weightless, compared to my old bulky, heavy bow. It just feels GOOD! You also asked to post my letter. Please feel free. I hope it helps. Everyone should own at least one of your bows! Regards, KN" (customer from Alabama). - A young CodaBow customer, MK in Tallahassee wrote: " Hi Mr Van Rooyen, I have registered my bow online. If the next month you come you can bring some nice fancy-looking black pegs for my violin it would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks again. PS: I LOVE my new bow. I went home with a friend to practice and we both played with it and we both agreed that it was the best bow we had ever used, it is very easy to use and I can really get some good strong sound out with it!!!!!" You can now order any CodaBow from us at 25% off the official CodaBow List Price. Visit our website www.gviolins.cc under "CodaBow" and also see www.codabow.com. Order using our handy printable order form, using your Visa / Mastercard (see under FAQ on our website) and faxing the filled-out signed form to us at (352) 374-4160, OR visit our shop, OR call (352) 372-8264 Mon-Fri 1-6 pm. This special Holidays Offer is only valid until 12/15/2001. _______________________________________________________ 05. REFERENCES: CUSTOMERS' COMMENTS This section contains only a small selection of letters that we have - "Your presence at Festival has always been a Godsend for the string players. I am certain Gainesville Musicale would want this to continue." - DD, organizer. (Gainesville Violins supports Festival by having a booth and a table there for free emergency adjustments and repairs. Festival in Gainesville is Feb 8-10 2002.) - "The door prizes went well. We do appreciate your coming. Everyone loved your talk and all the wonderful things you brought with you. I look forward to having you come back in the future. Best wishes - EJ" (organizer of a recent Suzuki Workshop day in Jacksonville, FL). - "Hello Jan and Anna: Thanks so much for being a part of the workshop on Saturday! It went well. The 1/4 cello seems to fit our daughter well. We appreciate you taking care of that very much. I am looking forward to our house being full of beautiful music. Thanks, JM" (parent at the above event). - "Jan! I am crazy about the CodaBows! And the students are crazy especially about the CodaBow 'Colours'! I want to introduce these bows to everybody. Today FJ treated me to a concert by the Dallas Symphony in the great Meyerson auditorium by FJ, she was so delighted by the two violins that she bought from you. BTW, the case that I want to replace did not come from you. So don't for a moment think that anything I have gotten from you has ever given up the ghost! Everybody is thrilled with your products! - NS" (Suzuki teacher in Dallas TX who will be visiting Gainesville in January 2002). - "I am very fortunate to have found your wonderful website! I am actually interested in finding out more information about your Bottesini double basses before ordering. I would be likely ordering it with a French bow, to be shipped to the metro-Detroit area. Thank you for your time and understanding. - L" (in Michigan). - "Good Morning Jan and Anna: It is Friday morning about 6:00 am and I was led to write you a short note. I was in your shop on Monday Oct 15th and you fixed my old violin within a few hours. I look at it now and it is so nice. I pick it up and turn my music on and begin to play. I am still talking about my visit to your shop. I will be leaving tonight for North Carolina for a week. I thank you for your kindness and you patience. Thank you also for the case and the bow. I am taking it with me along with my other instruments to the mountains. I am looking forward to sitting on the back porch and playing to the birds. Thanks for all your help." - MB. - " I played in church this morning for the first time. It seemed to be a blessing. Several former violin players (in their youth) commented how rich my violin sounded and how much they enjoyed it. That is as much a compliment to you and your beautiful instrument, as it is to me. Sincerely, CW" (customer in Tampa). - "C had her lesson tonight. She played beautifully on her new Vivaldi viola. The viola really suits her well and they are all very happy with it. NS" (Suzuki teacher in Dallas TX). - "We visited your website and now know what you look like and a bit more about what you do - very impressive! D & CM" (who sell the UMTHA violin necklaces to Gainesville Violins, from Cape Town, South Africa). _______________________________________________________ All the string players at the Competition Winner's Recital, Florida State Music Teachers Conference (held in St Petersburg, FL, Nov 2-4 2001), are our customers: Jung-Yoon Lee got her cello from us and we service her mother's cello, and we regularly tweak Angela Simmen's viola and Lauren Pollock's violin. With Yoni Teitelbaum, pianist, they constitute the Gainesville "Laurangyojung Quartet" and they played Mozart's Quartet in G Minor K 478, 1st movement. Congratulations to you all! At the same event, Suliman Tekalli (14 years old, from Orlando FL, and student of Mr Lev Gurevich) played the entire Vieuxtemps Concerto No 5 on the Rudoulf Doetsch violin he bought from us two years ago. In 2000, after Suliman performed Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole with the Florida State Youth Orchestra as the annual concerto competition winner, he was invited to play in the nationally acclaimed Public Radio series "From the Top". (BTW, Gainesville Violins is an official dealer of the Rudoulf Doetsch and Wilhelm Klier brands.) Congratulations, Suliman! All the players at the November 5, 2001, recital by the students of Mrs Helen Kirklin in the Thomas Center, Gainesville, are our customers. We supplied the instruments of Daniel Layon, Marin and Nicholas Gibson, Danny Tsai, Melody Mahla, Daniel Muni and Rathika Nimalendran, and we service the instruments of Kalindi Bellach and Angela Simmen. Congratulations to you all and thanks for a wonderful evening! In a photograph sent to us of the students of Miss Ruthann Pleus, held on August 10 2001 in Tampa FL, each of the nine persons in the picture owns or rents a violin from Gainesville Violins. The inscription to Gainesville Violins reads: "Our thanks for your support and encouragement." At an evening of chamber music sponsored by Gainesville Youth Chamber Ensembles (Mr Glen Smerage) on October 24 2001 in the Thomas Center, 14 of the 16 string players are our customers. Ten got their instruments from us, and we worked on the instruments of four more. Thanks to all for a great evening with wonderful music! _______________________________________________________ Our summer trip to Russia was amazing, wonderful and disturbing. We went with two very special friends from South Africa. We spent a few days in Moscow, then traveled by ship on the Volga, many canals, lakes and other rivers to St Petersburg, where we again stayed for a few days. Along the waterways we stopped at many villages, islands, churches, cathedrals and other noteworthy places and saw wonderful non-touristy people and things. We had an excellent English- and Russian-speaking guide. We were impressed by the vastness of the land (even though we saw only a minute fraction of it) and the great cultural heritage. Sad to say, neglect, poverty and depression are evident everywhere. An entire couple of generations have been rendered spiritless by Communist oppression. The hope lies in the young people. Yet we were also struck by the amount of devotion and spirituality that we found everywhere - not in everybody, but in a lot of people. And, of course, we heard great music-making everywhere, from street and forest musicians to chanters in cathedrals, young and old. The highlight was meeting, in St Petersburg, the ensemble "Camerata Tjumen" - a father, Dmitri Yelkin, and his three children from beyond the Ural mountains, 4 days and 4 nights by train east of St Petersburg. They were playing in subways to raise money for a better cello for the oldest kid, Ivan (17 years old and currently using a shabby plywood cello that cost 60 rubles = $2). We invited them to our hotel, where they played for a crowd of mostly German tourists. Daniil (11) played the Bruch concerto on a dilapidated ½-size violin which was much too small for him. Anastassia (13) then played on her 4/4 violin one of Paganini's Centone Sonatas with her father on classical guitar. Finally Ivan played the third unaccompanied cello suite by Bach. We were impressed not only by their virtuosity and style, but even more by their dignity in spite of their utter poverty, dusty and shabby clothes, and worn-out shoes in front of an exceedingly rich and glitzy audience. In spite of their incredible talents, their humility and modesty were also impressive. The audience gave them raving, standing ovations. For no clear reason at all, Jan had taken a violin outfit with him. He played it one evening to a group of tourist friends on the ship. But that night with the Yelkin family, it became clear why the violin went along. It was destined for Daniil! He performed the Bruch first movement again on it, and when he learned that it was now his outfit, he grasped Jan's hand and would not let go for the rest of the evening. It is a pity that we did not take two violins and a cello! But plans are underway to supply them with their remaining needs. This incident tied everything together and gave ultimate meaning to our Russia trip. _______________________________________________________ 08. FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF MUSIC Music lovers in and around Gainesville are encouraged to join the Foundation for the Promotion of Music (FPM). Recitals are scheduled for Nov 20, Dec 26, Feb 18 2002, Feb 24, April 9 and May 7 (all in the Thomas Center at 8 pm). Auditions for the Betsey Schnell Youth Award and the Dorothy Reeves String Award respectively take place on March 16 and April 2, 2002, and the winners' recital is on April 21 at 3 pm. For membership information and a 2001-2002 booklet, please contact Glen Smerage (President) (352) 377-2377 or Walter Holle (352) 374-6532 (Treasurer). Gainesville Violins is pleased to be able to sponsor the printing of all the FPM's programs. _______________________________________________________ The winner will be the sender of the first correct answer we receive
by Name the cellist who died prematurely during a small medical operation. He performed and recorded chamber works with Heifetz and we named one of our cello lines in honor of him. What year was he born and what year did he die? _______________________________________________________ Regarding the fake Strad label, SF, the winner, wrote: "Jan: The problem with your Stradivari label is that Strad died on December 18, 1737... three years before the violin was made. Another problem with the label is that Stradivari mainly used the "Antonius" form of his name on labels. He also used the imperfect form of the word "fecit" far more often... meaning he would have used the word "faciebat". The label, fully translated, means: 'Antonio Stradivari, he had made it in Cremona [use of the ablative] in the year [ablative of time when] 1740." Congrats, and enjoy the Hill book on Stradivari! There were other "winners" too, but they were beaten by SF time wise; we received his answer first. Thanks to all who participated. _______________________________________________________ 11 COMING, GOING AND PANICKING Our bookkeeper, Debbie Gibson, will be leaving us. The business grew
beyond Dionisio Victor Mercado, called Nisio, joins us full-time on 11/7/2001. He is married to Rebecca (Becky), our apprentice Daniel Muni's sister. Welcome, Nisio! We plan to switch to a new management and bookkeeping system, in which we will be assisted by our computer person, Moishe Groger. Thanks, Moishe! There are many new and difficult things ahead, and sometimes we panic. Thanks to all of you, our dear customers, for your forbearing patience! When we panic too much, we remember the following true story: An upcoming violin virtuoso had certain recurring left-hand problems
in some of the Paganini caprices. He learnt of a fabulous Hungarian woman
in London UK who was renowned for solving such problems. Her sessions
were called "consultations" and she charged $300 per hour. The
violinist flew to London, booked into an hotel, and went to see her in
her bedecked opulent Victorian-like apartment. She had long black hair
and was clad in a black caftan. As he stood there, she said, "Vel,
vat are you vaitink for? Pla-a-a-a-ay." So he played, and struggled
through the problematic passages. When he stopped, she looked at him long
and intently and said, "Play it again". Same story. After the
third round, he stood and waited. She started to scratch through her humungous
handbag, scratching, scratching. She found a crumpled cigarette, put it
in her mouth, and started scratching again. In the meantime the clock
was ticking on and on. Finally she found some matches, lit the cigarette,
inhaled very long and very deeply, looking at him intently and saying
in a deep voice as the smoke poured from her nostrils: "Do not paaaaaaaanik."
He could not believe his ears. Excuse me?", he asked politely. She
replied in her hoarse voice, "I said, do not We could heed this advice for free. "Do not paaaaaaaanik!" _______________________________________________________ 12. HOW TO RETURN AN INSTRUMENT TO US Please fill out the following Returns Data Sheet and put it in the case / bag with the instrument. This is crucial in order to process your transaction correctly and to avoid erroneous billing. Many thanks! Date: Your name (first, MI, last): Account name (if different from the above)): Complete billing address of account: Your complete shipping address (if different from the above): Invoice number / date (original transaction): Your phone number: First and last names of the player, and age: The instrument: Violin (size?) / Viola (size?) / Cello (size?) / Double-bass (size?) Serial number of instrument (look inside, through the treble or bass f-hole): Please specify whether this is: A rental switch * rental cancellation * purchase trade-in * tryout returned * instrument to be repaired (have we given you an estimate? Yes / No) * other transaction (please elaborate):
Name and phone number of teacher: Jan & Anna van Rooyen, Gainesville Violins, 3631 NW 41 Lane, Gainesville, FL 32605. _______________________________________________________ The Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued precautions to be taken by viola players regarding mating alligators after the recent rains in Bay, Seminole, Osceola, Polk, Clay, Alachua, Brevard, and Orange Counties. They advise these musicians to play their instruments while walking in order to alert but not startle alligators unexpectedly. They advise the carrying of pepper spray in case of an encounter with an alligator. It is also a good idea to watch for fresh signs of alligator activity. Violists should recognize the difference between small young alligator and large adult alligator droppings. Young alligator droppings are smaller and contain fish bones and possibly bird feathers. Adult alligator droppings have viola parts in them and smell like pepper spray. Be Prepared! (Boy Scout Motto) _______________________________________________________ 14. ORCHESTRA PROFESSIONALISM: A COMMENT Regarding our previous bit on Orchestra Professionalism, a cello teacher writes: "Love your newsletter. Thanks for putting me on the list. An addition to your Orchestra Etiquette material: Warm-up music on stage (i.e. any warm-up hearable by audience) should ONLY be passages from the music to be performed in the upcoming concert."- EK. _______________________________________________________ -"To dream of the person you want to be, is to waste the person you are." (Submitted by Petronel Malan, prize-winning pianist presently on a recital and concerto tour in South Africa.) -"Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is
limited, -"We cannot do great things on this earth. We can only do small things with great love" - Mother Teresa. Best regards, - Jan and Anna van Rooyen |