Violin Advisor: The New Market for Violins

The New Market for Violins

Because of rising prices, fine violins, violas, and cellos are now virtually out of reach of most students and a growing number of professional violinists. Even many prominent soloists are playing on borrowed instruments. If leading musicians cannot afford to own fine violins, then who is buying them? The answer is a diverse group of collectors, investors, foundations, banks, and governmental agencies.

In recent years, foundations in Taiwan (such as the Chi-Mei Culture Foundation) and Japan (Nippon Music Foundation, Hayashibara Foundation) have purchased dozens of fine violins that are principally lent to native-born musicians. The Austrian National Bank recently purchased twenty-nine violins, which it lends to musicians, mostly of Austrian citizenship, and the Canadian Council maintains a collection of fine violins that they lend to Canadians. In 2005, the legislature of the state of New Mexico passed a bill (SB 141) authorizing the appropriation of $40M from the Severance Tax Permanent Fund for investment in rare violins. In 2007, the private investment management firm Medley Capital purchased a collection of thirty fine violins, which it is lending to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. The Medley Capital/NJSO transaction, certainly the largest of its kind, was brokered by The Violin Advisor.

Many violinists are seeking private investors to purchase instruments for their use. Secure in the knowledge that their violins are appreciating at a comfortable rate, lenders enjoy the benefits and privileges of arts patronage (such as public acknowledgment in concert programs and recordings) and have the satisfaction of hearing their instruments played and enjoyed in the great concert halls of the world.