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The Redwood Violin Donated to YPCO
The Redwood Violin has been donated to the Santa Rosa Young People’s Chamber Orchestra The official handover occurred at a YPCO concert at the Phoenix Theatre, Petaluma where Clair Wu Claire played the solo in Amy Beach’s “A Hermit Thrush at Eve” The Redwood Violin will be loaned out on an annual basis to a…
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Interview with Composer Gwendolyn Przyjazna
Gwendolyn Przyjazna [pshi-YAH-znah] is the 17 year old composer of “Concertina for violin and strings”, which was performed by the Young Peoples Chamber Orchestra in May of this year. The performance was the first public performance of any of Gwendolyn’s work and, in addition, was the public debut performance of the Redwood Violin. Gwendolyn also…
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First public appearance. Dancing the sun up on May Morning
At Dawn on May Morning we took the Redwood Violin to Sebastopol to see the Apple Tree Morris Dance the sun up. Morris dance is an English folk dance tradition, usually danced with a team of six. The costumes, dances and dates for dancing varies between local teams. The Morris tradition has spread across the…
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Jon Berger Plays an Original Country Dance
Sebastopol fiddler Jon Berger composed this tune the style of an English Country Dance. He is joined here by Rebecca King on piano; Jon and Rebecca are two thirds of the band Persons of Quality. Jon’s wife Kalia Kliban, who made the pegs on the Redwood Violin, is a prominent English Country Dance caller. She…
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Kalia Kliban turns pegs for the Redwood Violin
I talked with woodturner Kalia Kliban back in December about making some pegs for the violin. She had cleared some time in her schedule, done some research, made some jigs and tools and was now ready to turn the pegs. We visited her shop in late February to watch the turning process, and to interview…
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Help Wanted – Machinist
Can anyone recommend a local machinist to make these metal parts?
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New Theme Tune for the Redwood Violin Videos
I’m very excited to be able to add a theme tune to the Redwood Violin videos. High school Junior, Gwendolyn Thalia Przyjazna, composed this musical signature which I feel captures the optimistic and exploratory essence of the Redwood Violin Project. Gwendolyn is deeply in music composition and is seriously considering the possibility of music school…
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Greg Zall and Mark Tindley, Fine woodworking and marquetry.
Mark Tindley and Greg Zall do high end woodwork from furniture to cabinetry. Their biggest distinction is their spectacular marquetry work. Their shop is in a semi-rural setting on the edge of Petaluma in a couple of the lovely old barns that you can see scattered around the edges of Petaluma in various stages of…
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Violin Pegs
Materials Violin pegs are normally made of a hard wood, the most commonly used are ebony and rosewood. The favorite wood for the high end pegs that you’ll see on Stradivari violins is English boxwood, stained to a honey color with nitric acid. English box pegs look beautiful after about 70 years of use have…
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Vulture Hill Apple Orchard
As you drive the hill around Sebastopol you will see many old apple orchards, white with blossom in the spring and warm with color in the fall. These orchards represent are an important cultural and historical legacy in our region, but sadly the apple industry has been in decline since the 1970’s, out-competed by larger,…
