Mitchell McCarthy violin, Auckland, 2024

This fine violin, modelled after Guarneri del Gesu, was made by contemporary American maker Mitchell McCarthy, a 2012 graduate of the Red Wing Violin Making and Repair programme in Minnesota who worked extensively in the USA before immigrating to New Zealand. The violin has a one-piece back of Balkan maple and a belly of Italian spruce, with all materials well-seasoned and hand-selected to ensure ideal stability and tone. The instrument is finished with a traditional oil varnish, and has been set up with every attention to detail. This violin boasts a rich, ample tone with a strong core, enhanced by plenty of tonal colour and excellent projection. Its vibrant overtones and fast response make it a wonderfully versatile instrument, equally suited to solo performance or ensemble playing.