JAVS Spring 2014

Eventually, our campaign was very successful, and we surpassed our fundraising goal, allowing us to record in optimal conditions and to produce a CD that we are very proud of, while (re)kindling deep, humbling, and fortifying friendships in the process.

A Viola for Elliot Corner

by Elliot Corner

Elliot Corner is a nineteen-year-old student who is studying viola and composition at the Royal College of Music in the UK as a Foundation Scholar (generously supported by The Henriette Schoeller Harrison Elt and Anatole Mines Award and a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Award). He utilized crowdfunding to pay for the majority of his instrument, a 17” viola made by British specialist viola maker David Milward in 1995 valued at £6,000. He shares his thoughts on the useful ness of crowdfunding for a modern musician in a mod ern life below. I personally never could have afforded such a fine instrument had it not been for the brilliant concept of crowdfunding. Coming from a low-income and non-musical background makes such an expensive and sometimes exclusive profession like classical music quite difficult to get a foothold in. Nevertheless, my parents have both always gone the extra mile to help me in my endeavors and have sup

For a review of the Chiaroscuro Trio’s new CD, please see the recording reviews on page 63.

Violist Dr. Aurélien Pétillot has garnered much esteem as a versatile and engaging performer and pedagogue. A passionate chamber musician and an ardent advocate of music by living composers, he is a founding member of the Chiaroscuro Trio and the founder and artistic direc tor of the non-profit concert series Viola by Choice. He is currently lecturer of viola and music theory at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the principal violist of the Camerata Chicago.

V OLUME 30 NUMBER 1 51 Elliot Corner with his Milward viola (photo courtesy of Sheila Burnett)