Join the ‘All Things Strings Online Community’

Created by the publishers of Strings, the All Things Strings Community (StringsCommunity.com) is a social network where you can meet fellow players, share video and audio files, join discussions, and keep up-to-date on all the happenings in the world of stringed instruments. If you’re a member of the stringed instrument trade, we encourage you to create a professional profile for yourself or your company or organization. It’s free to join, so come check it out today! Sign up now. Already a member? Log in.

Featured Blog

Professional-Level Performances Are Expensive

I worked as a professional cellist (symphony, opera, ballet) in Belgium and California during the 1980s. I left the field because, even though I had steady full-time work, the pay was not sufficient for raising a family.
[READ THE BLOG]

Meet the Members of the ‘All Things Strings Community’

Jonathan Russell

When Bronx violinist Jonathan Russell was just 18 months old, his parents noticed that he was able to recognize the sound of a violin as being distinct from that of other instruments. He began taking lessons when he was three and now, at 14, is completely devoted to his instrument. Russell—an All Things Strings Community member since July—says he likes connecting with fellow string devotees on the community site. “Some of them I know from fiddle camps or an ASTA conference, some from recordings I own,” he says, “and some I’ve never met in person.”

Russell is playing violin with different jazz bands around the country and taking film scorings lessons at NYU. “What I enjoy most about performing is playing with various bands, since this gives me a fun way to interact with other musicians,” he says. “Each band that I play with has a unique style and sound, which gives me the opportunity to expand what I am doing.”

Russell says his dream is to work as a Hollywood film scorer by day, play in jazz clubs by night, and still find the time to practice classical music. Watch Jonathan play “Night in Tunisia” on the All Things Strings Community here.  

Colleen Schoneveld

Colleen Schoneveld, of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, is a costumer and photographer of theater and ballet, and she had wanted to learn more about classical music. So, the 47-year-old decided to educate herself and check out Gil Shaham’s Violin Romances at the library. The CD changed her life. “The first stroke of his bow across the strings froze me in place,” she says.

Schoneveld was inspired to attend a performance by the famous violinist, and at the concert she saw something a bit odd. “I noticed how uncomfortable he was onstage—meaning in his clothes,” she says. “He was yanking and tugging at his jacket and basically squirming. I decided to become a tailor to design a jacket he could play in comfortably. That is another story in itself.”

She also decided to take up the violin.

After seven years of playing only for herself and her teacher, Schoneveld founded a Really Terrible Orchestra in Pennsylvania. “The thrill is no less just because we aren’t terribly good. . . . We laugh a great deal,” she says.

Schoneveld says that visiting the All Things Strings Community helps her stay focused on music and up to date with her friends. “The site helps me keep in touch with other music people . . . and learn more,” she says. “I always want to learn more.”

Eddy Rached 

Eddy Rached, an amateur violinist and composer from Montreal, chose to learn to play the violin because of the instrument’s convenient size and only later fell in love with its sound. In his own compositions, he explores range, color, and harmony, and has always been intrigued by “the individuality of a solo versus how well the sound blends in an ensemble.”

Rached is working on writing a new string quartet and starting a new composition for a larger orchestra. A video of the first piece he wrote, “Bonheur d’occasion,” being performed by an amateur ensemble can be seen on the All Things Strings Community here. Rached posted the video with a request for opinions from his fellow community members. “Networking is big if you want to get to the next level. . . . The friendly exchange and sharing of ideas through the community pages is a great opportunity for everyone to learn,” he says.