JAVS Summer 2025

From the President

Dear Fellow Viola Lovers, I hope this finds you enjoying the blissful moments of summer, whether it’s lingering in warm, golden evenings, relaxing with a cool drink and a good book, or practicing and performing at a festival. This summer, I’m catching up on some long-overdue reading and creative projects, and looking

and participate in these incredible learning experiences. We will continue to update information on the AVS website, social media, and our newsletter as well. Each July 1st marks the beginning of the AVS Board year, and this year we have one board member-at-large completing a term of service and four others preparing to contribute their time, talent, and vision. We thank Hsiaopei Lee for her excellent service on the Education Committee, as 2024 AVS Festival Competitions Coordinator, and in many other roles. New (or returning) members welcomed to the board this July are: Ruben Balboa , DJ Cheek , Tony Devroye , and Joyce Tseng . Many thanks to all of these individuals for their dedication to the viola community and their past and future service to the AVS. We hope you enjoy this summer digital issue of the JAVS! Highlights include part one of Dr. Nethanel Pollak’s “The Viola Behind the Iron Curtain,” and a look at the historical lira da braccio , among other features and reviews. In our “In the Studio” column, “Finding your Voice: Arts Integration in Teaching” will inspire us for the new season of teaching, which will begin all too soon. The whole issue will be on my summer reading list, and I hope you’ll join me. If you have an idea for an article for inclusion in the journal, whether a scholarly paper or a practical feature, please contact editor@ americanviolasociety.org. We want to hear from you! Thank you so much for supporting the AVS through your membership! As you are able, we hope that you might consider a small donation to a program that may be meaningful to you. If you are enjoying your membership, please tell a friend, and help us grow and support our community!

forward to curling up with our summer journal!

This is a quiet summer for viola events – we are in between AVS festival summers, and the upcoming International Viola Congress is scheduled for this coming winter. If you haven’t already done so, please put the 50th International Viola Congress on your calendar and plan to attend. The event will take place on January 19-23, 2026 in the beautiful “city of lights” – Paris, France! Guest artists feature many current luminaries of the viola world, including Gérard Caussé, Kim Kashkashian, Garth Knox, Tatjana Masurenko, Bruno Pasquier, Lawrence Power, Timothy Ridout, Jennifer Stumm, and Tabea Zimmerman. More information will be announced as the event approaches at: https://www.the50thinternationalviolacongress. com/en Our festival team is also in the midst of intense planning for the 2026 AVS Festival , to be held June 3-6, 2026 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. The Festival Call for Proposals will be open through August 15, 2025, so please be sure to submit your performance and presentation ideas and plan to join us in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley of Western Virginia. Details of our AVS Festival competitions – the 2026 AVS Solo Competitions, Ensemble Invitational Competition, and Orchestral Audition Competition –are also available, so please encourage your students and student groups to prepare

Wishing you a safe and restful summer,

Ames Asbell President

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 41, Summer 2025 Online Issue