Maker of Violins, Violas and 'Cellos
Musicians Who Play Thurmond Knight's Instruments
|
A
2002 graduate of Mount Holyoke College,
Lisa Utzinger
majored in music and psychology and studied violin with Linda Laderach
at MHC and Joel Pitchon at Smith College.
Soon after graduating from Mount Holyoke, Lisa landed a job at
the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston as Assistant Director of
Board Relations.
In 2005, Lisa left NEC to work at From the Top, the non-profit
organization best known for its hit NPR radio showcase featuring kids
playing classical music.
She was hired to create and manage From the Top’s new
scholarship program.
Lisa has been a violinist with the Boston Civic Symphony, under
the baton of Max Hobart, and is a member of its Board of Directors.
Lisa performs on the “Susan Ellen” violin handcrafted by
Thurmond Knight of Glover, VT. |
|
|
|
Willie
Docto enjoys combining his musical
background with his management experience. He performed as a
freelance musician in the Washington, DC area for over 15 years.
He has served as general manager of the Georgetown Symphony Orchestra
and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra working with conductors Andrew Litton
and Fabio Mechetti. He has performed in the Georgetown Symphony,
Prince William Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, and Oak Ridge (TN)
Symphony Orchestra. Willie has served on the boards of the
Monteverdi Music School and the Vermont Arts Council. Since 1996,
Willie has owned an association management company providing event
planning and marketing consulting services to clients in the U.S.,
Poland and the Philippines. He is principal second violin in the
Montpelier Chamber Orchestra Society and the Vermont Philharmonic.
He recently co-founded the Eleva
Chamber Players based in central Vermont.
Eleva Chamber Players is an all-string chamber orchestra composed of
professional musicians from throughout the Northeast, with distinguished
international careers. Willie performs on the "Aunt
Lulabelle" violin handcrafted by Thurmond Knight of Glover,
Vermont. |
|
Outi Markkula of Vuorela,
Finland (Suomi) plays a cello made by Thurmond in 1995, dedicated to his
mother, Ellen Frances. Outi attends a high school for the arts, Kuopion
Musiikkilukio in Kuopio, Finland, studying piano, cello, dance and voice. She plans a
professional musical career. In the summer of 2006 she joined the
Bread and Puppet Theatre Company at their home base in Glover, Vermont,
and performed in several productions. As a visiting guest artist,
Outi sang, danced and played a fanciful primitive bowed instrument of
her own creation.
Earlier in the summer she enjoyed the lights of Broadway, and meeting Christian Hebel, talented concertmaster of Wicked. Outi also had a chance to play the skin drum at a matinee performance of Drumstruck. |
|
|
|
Sallie Grossman,
of www.greenhopefarm.com, a
bed and breakfast with riding stables and much more, located in
Craftsbury Common, Vermont, purchased Mother Teresa violin in May,
2006. The instrument is modeled after a 1694 "long"
Strad, dedicated to the
memory of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, and to her
Missionaries of Charity who have devoted themselves to serving the
poorest of the poor throughout the world. |
|
Sally Calamaio Commissioned her violin and took it home April 27, 2005. Harley, christened by Sally, a motorcycle enthusiast, is modeled after Fritz Kreisler's 1733 Guarneri del Gesu'. It was constructed with Bavarian maple and Mittenwald spruce harvested around 1998. The oil varnish is plum colored at Sally's request. Sally is a member of the Northeast Kingdom Symphony Orchestra in Vermont. She is studying violin under the tutelage of Jason Bergman. Sally recently sold her veterinarian practice and works part time for the new owner. |
|
|
|
A member of a large musical
family in Cabot, Vermont, Christie Charlestream is
playing-in a violin completed by Thurmond in June, 2004. Up until
this year, she and her siblings were home schooled by her parents, Kathy
and Glee, who are both accomplished string players. Kathy, a fine
violinist and violin teacher, has many students who study with her in
her Cabot studio. Glee, a professional violist, presently plays in
family quartets and is a talented graphic designer.
Christie's younger brother, Andrew, plays the cello. An older
brother, Kevin, is a professional cellist who performs
internationally. |
|
A mid-westerner and member of her community orchestra, Marilyn Barton studied violin repairs and restoration with Thurmond in 2003. She owns and plays Rose Viola made by Thurmond. Click here for more photos of Rose Viola
|
|
|
|
A native of St. Louis, at age seven,
violinist Joyce Hammann
began her Suzuki studies, later graduating from The Juilliard School with
a B.M. and a M.M., where her teachers were Dorothy Delay, Oscar Shumsky
and Ivan Galamian. During this time, she was the winner of The Berg
Violin Competition and The Peter Oundjian award. Ms. Hammann has
appeared as soloist with many orchestras, recently premiering three
concerti with Scandia Symphony and just completed performing the
complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas. Her "sweet, rich tone"
can be heard on Late Night with David Letterman, The Today Show and
Saturday Night Live. She is currently concertmaster of Phantom of the
Opera on Broadway and tours throughout Europe with jazz pianist Uri
Caine.
Joyce enjoys a varied career ranging from the concert stage to Broadway musicals to the recording studio. She has had the recent pleasure of recording with Michael Brecker, Abbey Lincoln and Regina Carter for their new releases. Ms. Hammann can also be heard on Jane Monheit’s new DVD, String Quartets -John Zorn, Wagner and Venezia-Uri Caine, Book of Tells- Mark Feldman, Ereia-Dr. Nerve, Double Quartet-Ted Nash, Grains of Paradise-Erik Friedlander and Bashe-Samuel Zyman.. She has performed with such artists as Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett and Sheryl Crow. |
|
David Truslow with Babs cello, made by Thurmond and dedicated to his first cousin, Babs Sganga |
David Truslow owns and plays Babs, a cello made by Thurmond in 1995. David, a psychologist, resides in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, with his family. He has studied the cello with Thurmond for the past three years. |
|
|
|
|
Danielle
Baasch playing Sarah Marie, her 16 inch viola made by
Thurmond in the summer of 2002. The instrument is modeled after
Maggini and the top was carved from 1866 spruce beams taken from the
covered bridge that spans the Connecticut River between Windsor, Vermont
and Cornish, New Hampshire. |
Danielle Sarah Baasch,
18, is
principal violist with New England Youth Chamber Ensemble, under the
direction of Dr. Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse. She has traveled
throughout the United States and Europe performing as both a violist and
harpist. She also frequently performs with her twin brother,
younger sister and father as the Baasch Family Ensemble. Danielle
homeschools, lives in Rutland, Vermont, and is presently studying viola
with Ariel Rudiakov, of the Manchester Music Festival. According
to Danielle, Mr. Rudiakov has been favorably impressed with her viola. |
|
Delvin Warner, a member of the Northeast Fiddler's Association of Vermont, studies fiddle with Tony Washburn. Delvin and his wife, Nancy, are from Lowell, Vermont and both have commissioned violins from Thurmond. The two violins were made using 1866 spruce from a covered bridge for the tops. These instruments are from Thurmond's Bridge Collection of instruments. |
|
|
|
Nancy Warner is an active member of the Northeast Fiddler's Association of Vermont. She studies violin and fiddle with performing artist, Professor Fairbanks, aka Peter Miller. Nancy and her husband, Delvin, are from Lowell, Vermont, and both have commissioned violins from Thurmond. She is pictured here playing her one day old violin, completed mid-July, 2002. |
Ruth Einstein is a violinist with the Bartholdy Ensemble and with the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra Society. Ruth is a violin teacher in many public and private schools throughout the central Vermont area. Thurmond met her when she played in the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra. She plays the Chelsea violin made by Thurmond and named in honor of his daughter. |
|
|
Ida
H. Washington is Professor Emerita from the University
of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and the author of numerous books and articles on literature
and history. A favorite hobby is playing the violin as a member of the Amateur
Musicians Orchestra in Burlington and in a chamber music group in Middlebury. She
and her husband live in Weybridge, Vermont. She commissioned the "Ida
Washington" violin from Thurmond, completed in October, 2001. The instrument is
modeled after Fritz Kreisler's 1733 Guarneri del Gesu' and has a carved lions's head for
the scroll. |
Reuben Epstein, a
violinist and violist with the University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra, plays a viola
made by Thurmond in 1990, and a violin made by Thurmond in 2004. Dr. Epstein, a Senior Scientist at the Laboratory
for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester, purchased the viola in the spring of
2001 from the shop of Horst Kloss in Needham, Mass. A 16 1/4" viola modeled
after the 1676 Andreas Guarneri "Conte Vitale", the instrument is dedicated to
the memory of Thurmond's father. The top of the viola was carved from large timbers
taken from the covered bridge which spans the Connecticut River between Windsor, Vermont
and Cornish, New Hampshire, during a recent restoration project. The timbers were
hand hewn from red spruce trees, cut in 1866, and hauled to the bridge building site by
teams of oxen. |
