Australian String Academy

Date Added: April 04, 2008 01:54:05 AM

Welcome to the Australian String Academy.

The ASA is an exciting new organisation dedicated to bringing unprecedented opportunities to young string players of Australia, and enriching the music community both here and abroad. Our flagship program, the international Summer School, provides unique opportunities for young string players and pianists from Australia and around the world. For 15 days, students playing the violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano are inspired under the direction of world class tutors. The day-to-day program includes individual lessons, master classes, lectures, seminars, concerts, solo performance opportunities, and advanced chamber music. Here is their link.

ARTICLES

Strings, standing waves and harmonics
How do we make musical sounds? To make a sound , we need something that vibrates. If we want to make musical notes you usually need the vibration to have an almost constant frequency: that means stable pitch. We also want a frequency that can be easily controlled by the player. In electronic instruments this is done with electric circuits or with clocks and memories. In non-electronic instruments, the stable, controlled vibration is produced by a standing wave.

Articulation and vibrato on the violin
Different bowing gestures or articulations give the violin a range of different sounds. The differences are chiefly in the transient sounds at the beginning and end of the notes, and in the envelope: the way the sound varies over time. These are illustrated with sound files and oscillograms.

ASA Summer School 2009
The Australian String Academy - Our upcoming Summer School will be held at the Sydney Conservatorium in January 2009, in the heart of the Sydney Harbour. ASA has invited four stellar international string personalties - Zakhar Bron (Russia) for violin, Nobuko Imai (Switzerland) for viola, Hans Jensen (USA) for cello, and Joel Quarrington (Canada) for bass.

Sergio Peresson

Sergio Peresson
Sergio Peresson (1913-1991) was an Italian-born violin maker who is considered one of the most phenomenal makers of the 20th century. Born in 1913 in Udine, Italy, Sergio made his first violin in 1943 before moving to Caracas, Venezuela, in 1947. There he primarily did repair work for the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra and had a modest production of new instruments. He moved to Philadelphia in 1963 and was employed by William Moennig and Son.