Simax Classics
Since 1978 Simax Classics has presented repertoire from the finest composers of the western classical tradition, with the aim of giving listeners the highest-quality recordings of the finest performances. The label has been inspired by the acceleration in activity and quality of Norwegian musicians during this period. Artists include pianist Boris Berezovski (concertos by Rachmaninov and Liszt, solo works of Schumann, Ravel, Scriabin and Chopin); conductor Mariss Jansons (Brahms symphonies, Strauss Till Eulenspiegel); and cellist Truls Mørk (Haydn cello concertos, sonatas by Brahms, Kodály, Debussy, Poulenc).



Pro Musica Antiqua
This fine group, based in Oslo, was formed in 1969. Using period instruments and performing in a historically informed style, it makes medieval and renaissance music come to life in spontaneous and thrilling performances.



Aurora


Hemera
These two Norwegian labels promote contemporary Norwegian music written by eminent composers, such as Cecilie Ore, Knut Nystedt and Rolf Wallin.

Ondine
The Naxos Music Library is pleased to welcome the Finnish label Ondine. It was thanks to an acclaimed recording of Rautavaara’s opera Thomas in 1985 that Ondine became a serious record label. Initially formed to present one live recording per season from the Finnish Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, it has now grown to over 250 recordings in the current catalogue. The label’s mission is to support new creative efforts in the field of contemporary music as well as to showcase performances by top-ranking artists which bring a new dimension to established classical works. In addition to the finest musicians from Finland (Esa-Pekka Salonen, Magnus Lindberg etc.), the label has attracted non-Finnish artists and composers, such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph Eschenbach and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Danacord
Formed in 1979 by the Denmark’s ‘man about CDs’ Jesper Buhl, this label has championed the music of Danish composers such as Nielsen (many live historical recordings) and Langgaard, and Danish artists performing a range of rarely heard works, often recorded live. A 10-CD set of Danish violin concertos played by Kai Laursen features Mariss Jansons, Ole Schmidt and others.

Delos
Delos was formed thirty years ago to give outstanding American artists an international platform. It has flourished since then, and boasts such towering performers as the Dallas Symphony, Andrew Litton, and the label’s own star baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Quiet Please
Quiet Please is a new Scandinavian label dedicated to ‘quiet music’, which is now to be found in the Naxos Music Library. It is music specifically for relaxation, such as the album Break of Day by Sara Indrio – a composer and singer who, via her study of music psychology, has an extensive knowledge of the way in which music influences the mind.

Col Legno
The Naxos Music Library is pleased to welcome the highly respected col legno label to its collection. col legno began in 1982 and has been devoted to new classical music, providing top-class recordings of music by today’s composers. It is now encompassing revolutionary music of past centuries and music which, in various ways, defies categorisation. Thus, its scope is broad and fascinating: from Schubert Lieder recorded by the East Tyrolean band Franui to interpretations of classical music by outstanding jazz performers to plans for awarding new commissions. This is a fresh and feisty label!

The Naxos Music Library welcomes three German labels:


Edition Zeitklang has a particular musical mission: to showcase the work of unknown composers, throwing a determined spotlight on the music of our time.



Master Arts Records focuses on undiscovered music of the past, making carefully selected treasures available to the public through quality recordings. The label also promotes particularly gifted instrumentalists.



The Composers Art Label concentrates on raising the profile of exceptionally gifted contemporary composers.

Avie
Avie Records is a top-quality classical music label that operates with a particular awareness of the artists’ own interests. It was launched in 2002 by industry veterans Simon Foster and Melanne Mueller. Artists include the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Trevor Pinnock and the European Brandenburg Ensemble, Douglas Boyd and the Manchester Camerata, and Christopher Hogwood.

Divox
Based in Switzerland, Divox AG/Ltd was founded in 1984 and began with a focus on the promotion of emerging chamber music artists. It now has four sub-labels, covering music from ancient to modern by mainstream and less familiar composers, as well as world music. Divox has always taken pride in its commitment to individual musicians and their own interpretations, as well as the quality of the recordings themselves.

Trustkill
Trustkill Records, an American label, has risen out of a college dorm room in the early 1990s to now attain status as the authoritative voice in the worlds of independent metal, hardcore, punk and emo music.  It started releasing hardcore, metal and rock recordings in 1994. Artists include Bullet for my Valentine, Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through, It Dies Today, Poison The Well and Throwdown .

Challenge Records
Located in the Netherlands, this label is run by a group of jazz and classical music enthusiasts. Leading national and international artists are represented, performing a wide variety of music. The Brodsky Quartet performs Britten, Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra perform Bach Cantatas, Musica Antiqua Koln performs Gluck’s Trio Sonatas... and there is much more.

Lanui Records is a new label based in Hawaii that concentrates on significant recordings from the 1960s and 1970s, with performers such as Kenneth Gilbert, Steven Staryk, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Laurindo Almeida and others, many in their first recordings. The music on the label comes from both a strong Baroque and Classical background and also includes rarely-heard works from then-contemporary American composers.

Lyrichord
Based in New York, Lyrichord is one of the oldest independent labels specialising in recordings of traditional world music (Africa, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America) and early music (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical). It began in 1950. New world music releases include Silk, Spirits and Song: Music from North Thailand and Indian Folk Music from Uttar Pradesh.

Music & Arts Programs of America is an independent classical and jazz label. Live performances from Casals, Schnabel and other great artists of the past feature in this label’s output, as well as the cream of the American jazz tradition. Plenty of gems to enjoy here!

New Albion’s mission is to search for new musical territories. With composers and performers, the label develops, records and releases about six titles a year. The creativity is evident from a selection of titles: Ars Magis Subtiliter (secular music of the Chantilly Codex, France, 14 th century), Daniel Lentz’s Apologetica (settings of texts from the Chilam Balam – the sacred books of the Maya Indians of Yucutan) and Food for the Bearded (the solo debut of guitarist and composer Gyan Riley).

Albany Records is dedicated to producing interesting, imaginative releases to satisfy the public’s hunger for more than just the famous great works in classical music. It is devoted to music by American composers (with only a few exceptions) performed by the best of America’s artists. There are premiere recordings by Roy Harris, Morton Gould and others, plus music by George Lloyd and Andrei Eshpei and many more.

Dinant is a record label formed by Canadian saxophonist Paul Brodie – ‘Ambassador of the Saxophone’ (Crescendo International Magazine) – dedicated to this instrument. He himself performs a range of saxophone music.

The Naxos Music Library expands its recordings once again with the arrival of two new and incredibly diverse record labels.

V2 Music: One of the best non-classical independent record labels, with a track record for signing successful and inspiring bands, such as Stereophonics and Liberty X.

Atoll:

Brana Records is an exciting addition to the Naxos Music Library’s ever-expanding collection, encompassing as it does works that are new to our ‘shelves’ and unknown to many music lovers. The ethos of the label is to restore and publish rare recordings by neglected artists and recordings of newly discovered masterpieces. Currently, the focus is on the Polish/Brazilian pianist Felicja Blumental who died in 1991. Repertoire includes Kuhlau’s Piano Sonatine, Szymanowski’s Piano Études, the Piano Concerto by Viotti, and Villa-Lobos conducting his own Piano Concerto live.

Alpha Records, an imaginative French label, brings around 120 extremely individual recordings to the library. There is a fascinating range of rarely explored repertoire, much of it by early composers whose names are relatively unfamiliar, such as Pierre Guédron , Nicolas Formé, and Ignazio Albertini.

CPO, an internationally acclaimed German label, has been successful since its founding in 1986 in enthusiastically filling the niches that larger companies in the industry have sometimes overlooked. That there is so much repertoire remaining to be explored is proven by CPO's highly praised editions of Pfitzner, Korngold, Hindemith and Pettersen.

Soli Deo Gloria Monteverdi Productions has produced some of the finest recordings of Bach's cantatas available today, performed by the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and John Eliot Gardiner with top soloists such as James Gilchrist, Mark Padmore, Gerald Finley and Nathalie Stutzmann. We are delighted to make these outstanding recordings available within the Naxos Music Library.

The NML welcomes ATMA Classique to its collection. This sophisticated and stylish Canadian-French label has over 250 recordings to date, ranging from core masterpieces such as Liszt’s B minor Sonata to intriguing, less familiar repertoire such as the choral music by the Estonian composer Veljo Tormis, sung by the vibrant Canadian ensemble musica intima.

We welcome three more prestigious record labels to the Naxos Music Library this week.

1. Signum Classics, a label dedicated to high standards of performance and a loyalty to composers' intentions. Performers include some of the best choral and instrumental groups in the UK: The Kings Singers, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers, as well as Oxford and Cambridge University College choirs.
2. Hungaraton, the Hungarian record company founded in 1951 and reorganised in 1995. The label specialises in Hungarian music, mainly classical and folk, performed largely by Hungarian artists
3. ABC Classics, Australia's foremost producer of classical CDs. Belonging to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Music), this label caters for a broad classical music market, encouraging and promoting key repertoire through high- quality performances.

The NML welcomes three new labels to its collection:

Coro
This is The Sixteen's own record label, dedicated to the choral group's own repertoire and reflecting the immaculate performances for which it has become known. Coro is offering new recordings each year and is also reissuing the Collins catalogue.

Cedille Records
This is the label of the Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, which is an organisation devoted to promoting the finest musicians in the Chicago area. It regularly offers unusual repertoire which has been overlooked by other record companies. Most recently released is a disc of chamber music by Walter Rabl and Josef Labor by the Orion Ensemble.

Alba Records
A Finnish label, boasting an excitingly diverse range of recordings, such as Mozart's Gran Partita, Madetoja's orchestral works, Finnish songs and Kratt - a ballet by Eduard Tubin.

A Gold Record is an achievement for any artist. For a Classical artist or recording it’s rare, but for a male choir it’s unique! The Lund University Male Voice Choir from southern Sweden celebrates its 175th anniversary with the release of an album of traditional Spring songs, and the success is instant! When the CD hits the stores this week, it will come in already rated as a Gold Record, with over 12.000 pre-order sales.

Founded in 1831, it is one of Sweden’s oldest choirs and already has several successful recordings under its belt, yet this golden achievement is a first. Naxos is pleased to announce that this successful cooperation will continue, with the Choir already contracted for a Christmas recording, slated for release in Fall 2006. Come and hear what everyone’s listening to as one of the finest Scandinavian choirs celebrates Spring!
8.557994

Music for Kids consists of ten CDs of music for young children and guidance towards listening, teaching, and why music is important. There are fifty 'Songs to Sing'; 'Music from Planet Earth', to remind us just how much musical variety there is in the world; 'Music for Dancing', when it's time to be a bit more energetic; and one CD called 'Guided Tours' where you can learn all about how to record a song and recognize different musical instruments, among other things.

The music serves as a springboard for adults to encourage the musical ears of children. The basic principle is that all human beings are 'musical' - music is in our blood - and everyone can develop their ability to enjoy music through listening activities such as these.

Romophone includes some rare gems in the field of historical recording, going back as far as 1900. Distinctive among its releases are those of particular national interest - Italian singers for Italian works, American singers for American works etc. - as well as collections of arias translated into unusual languages, capturing the early-20^th-century custom of translating opera into the local vernacular.

There are 36 releases available in the NML. Included are such renowned names as Geraldine Farrar (the complete Victor recordings 1907-09), Amelita Galli-Curci (complete acoustic recordings 1916-1920 and complete Victor recordings 1925-8, 1930) and others, as well as La Scala recordings of Verdi's Il trovatore and Aida, and Puccini's Madama Butterfly made between 1928 and 1930. There is also a remarkable disc of highlights from Wagner's Ring cycle with a variety of soloists, all singing in French.

These form a significant addition to the already substantial Naxos Historical catalogue.

N.B. These recordings are not available to subscribers in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions.

We are pleased to announce that the NML is diversifying with the introduction of two new independent Swedish lables encompassing rock and pop music.

Stockhouse is involved in music production, promotion and concerts. It encompasses an impressive array of Swedish pop, rock and dance acts, with names such as Charlotte Nilsson, Pernilla Wahlgren, Basic Element, Pandora, Trombo Combo, Fabrizio Faniello and Carola Szucs.

Zebra Art includes recordings of jazz, indie-pop and folk/accoustic pop. Excellence across all aspects - artistry, sound and graphic design - are trademarks of the label. Artist names include Stefan Andersson, Milan Hogdahl, Somerlaht, Martina Almgren Quartet, Jenny Willen, Valdemar, Plura Jonsson, Hurdle Brothers and the internationally acclaimed Irish group Anúna.

The Naxos Music Library now boasts particularly fine recordings of Wagner's complete Ring cycle, featuring the Staatsoper and Staatsorchester Stuttgart, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek.

This production was particularly unique in pioneering the employment of a different director and cast for the four operas, thereby giving each a distinct identity. The recordings have been widely acclaimed, and form a significant addition to the library.

Acclaimed roles include Mette Ejsing's Erda and Esa Ruuttunen's "outstanding" Alberich in Das Rheingold (along with "terrific low brass"); Tichina Vaughn's Fricka in Die Walküre; and Luana DeVol's "secure and powerful" Brünnhilde and Roland Bracht’s "formidable" Hagen in Götterdämmerung.

"Anyone interested in The Ring as a parable of human behaviour will find this rivetingü" (The Financial Times on Götterdämmerung)

Das Rheingold 8.660170-71
Die Walküre 8.660172-74
Siegfried 8.660175-78
Götterdämmerung 8.660179-82

The Naxos Music Library now has:

• Over 8,800 titles
• 130,000 plus tracks
• Works by close to 7,000 composers
  

These recordings come from an impressive array of record companies:

• Naxos & Marco Polo
• Amadis, White Cloud, Middle Kingdom, Yellow River
• 17 other independent labels, including Analekta, ARC, Artek, BIS, Bridge Records, CBC, Celestial Harmonies, Collegium, Dacapo, First Edition, Gimell, Hänssler Classic, Morrison Music Trust, PentaTone, Prophone, Proprius, Toccata Classics

Institutions subscribing to the Naxos Music Library may also contact the Naxos representative in their country to receive special rates for SheetMusicNow.com.

NAXOS WINS LABEL OF THE YEAR AWARD AT

CLASSIC FM/GRAMOPHONE AWARDS

PRESS RELEASE

"Naxos has combined imaginative A&R with its philosophy of offering great music at affordable prices. Which all makes for a winning combination - classical music enthusiasts can't really go wrong!" - Gramophone

"Why pay ’15 for a classical CD when you can get a better one for a third of the cost from the budget label Naxos?" - The Guardian

On Thursday 29 September Naxos was delighted to accept the coveted Label of the Year Award at The Classic FM/Gramophone Awards ceremony.  The Award was presented to the Managing Director of Naxos UK, Anthony Anderson, at London’s Dorchester Hotel. On receiving the Award Anthony Anderson said: “This Award is, above all, a welcome recognition of Naxos’ unique achievement in facilitating consumer access to an ever-increasing range of classical repertoire.” 

The Classic FM/Gramophone Label of the Year Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the past 12 months, imaginative A & R and an impressive commitment to expanding the record catalogue. It also acknowledges a dedication to offering value for money and a visionary approach to digital distribution and music education. 

It is not difficult to see why the judges on the Classic FM/Gramophone panel chose Naxos for this cherished award. Not only is Naxos highly committed to British and American music but it has developed several series that push back the boundaries of the recorded catalogue. Such series include the 21^st Century Classics, bringing music of our day to a wider public; the Japanese Classics - a ground-breaking survey of foremost 20^th century composers from Japan; an 18^th Century Concert/Symphony series seeking to make known many of the neglected gems from the time of Haydn to Mozart as well as the Organ Encyclopedia which combines the best of today’s organists with the main organ repertoire and top instruments. This astonishing array of repertoire remains readily accessible to the public through Naxos’ consumer-friendly price. 

Naxos’ forward-looking approach to digital distribution has meant it has remained at the forefront of the digital revolution. Being the first classical record label to digitise its complete catalogue, the label was not only ready for the advent of digital distribution but was also able to create the Naxos Music Library, a subscription service by which users can stream an enormous range of music on their computer. The Naxos Music Library now encompasses over 100,000 tracks drawn not only from the Naxos catalogue but also from other leading independent labels.  It is primarily aimed at educational institutions and so far subscriptions have been sold to over 100 universities, schools and libraries throughout the UK.  These institutions include Oxford, Cambridge and Durham Universities plus schools both from the independent and state sectors (Eton, Harrow, Charterhouse, Yehudi Menuhin, Purcell). 

Naxos Radio - which can be found on the website www.naxos.com  - is another example of Naxos’ creative approach to digital distribution. It offers over 60 channels of continuous music which can be streamed to the consumer for a small annual subscription fee. Naxos recordings can also readily be found on the main music download sites. In the UK these already include iTunes, Napster, HMV and Virgin with more to follow in the months to come.

From the outset Naxos has been dedicated to music education. The Chairman of Naxos, Klaus Heymann, recognised the importance of introducing new people to classical music and thus building the audience of tomorrow. Recent educational initiatives have included The A to Z of Classical Music and A to Z of Opera (mini musical dictionaries + 2CDs); the Life and Works series (4CD audio documentaries narration + music); the Instruments of the Orchestra (a 7CD introduction to the orchestra) and Opera Explained (a series of single CDs which put the most famous operas into their historical and musical context).

The Naxos Music Library (www.naxosmusiclibrary.com) now offers an extensive range of over 1,500 jazz recordings, contained on the independent website www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/jazz.

These recordings include many from the specialist jazz label Fantasy, as well as Naxos and Marco Polo Da Capo releases. New releases will be added on a regular basis.

All titles are searchable by:

1. Catalogue no.
2. Album title or track/song title
3. Main feature artist(s)

Naxos is pleased to announce its Junior Section! A link to this section may be found on the left-hand menu of the ‘Browse/Search’ screen.

Listen to Aled Jones or Marin Alsop reading The Story of Classical Music and be taken on a fascinating journey through the centuries.

Click and play with the accompanying interactive material. What does ‘flutter-tonguing’ on a flute sound like? How do you pronounce ‘Camille Saint-Saüns’? Which composer fell in love with a girl who became a nun, and married her ugly sister instead?

All these questions and many more are answered. You can even learn how to read music!

Just click on ‘Junior Section’ on the left-hand menu, and all will be revealed...

The Text Resources section has been reorganised. A link to it may be found across the top horizontal bar, next to ‘Playlist’.

In the Advanced Search, "Catalogue No." has been separated from the "Disc Title / Composition Title" field in order to stand on its own as field 11. This expedites the search for those who are familiar with Naxos catalogues, and produces more relevant search results.

The search presumes that when a catalogue number is entered it is to find a specific title or CD; therefore all other fields are ignored.

Recent articles in The New York Times and the San Jose Mercury News have praised two newly recorded CDs of music by Schoenberg (8.557520) and Webern (8.557530). These are part of the Robert Craft Collection which began in January with re-releases of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Les Noces (8.557499), and Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder (8.557518-19). Released this month is Stravinsky's Firebird (complete Urtext edition) and Petrushka, both with the Philharmonia Orchestra. All are available on the Naxos Music Library.

The Robert Craft Collection, when complete, will be a comprehensive survey of works by Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Webern, conducted and compiled by one of the most astute authorities on twentieth-century music.

The Naxos Music Library now supports Windows Media Player 10 for PC users whilst also continuing to support WMP 9. Please see under ‘FAQ’ for more information on system requirements.

GRAMMY Award Nominations (10^th December 2004)

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) has honoured Naxos of America with 15 GRAMMY Award nominations, the most ever for the company. Naxos itself picked up six nominations, as did its Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. Naxos AudioBooks and Marco Polo earned one nomination each.

Nominees include:
Best Classical Album
Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) - 8.559151
Elliott Carter: Symphony No. 1; Piano Concerto; 'Holiday' Overture [Mark Wait, piano; Nashville Symphony Orchestra; Kenneth Schermerhorn]

Best Orchestral Performance - 8.557145
Bax: Symphony No. 7; Tintagel [RSNO; David Lloyd-Jones]

Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) - 8.557146
Bliss: Piano Concerto, etc. [Peter Donohoe, piano; RSNO; David Lloyd-Jones]

Best Chamber Music Performance - 8.557133
Bridge: String Quartets Nos 1 and 3 [Maggini Quartet]

Best Spoken Word Album for Children - NA331012
The Story of Classical Music [Written by Darren Henley; Read by Marin Alsop]

Best Choral Performance - 8.557149
Penderecki: St. Luke Passion [Antoni Wit; Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus; Various soloists]

Best Small Ensemble Performance
Best Engineered Album - 8.559423
Yehudi Wyner: The Mirror, Passover Offering, etc.
Milken Archive

Best Classical Crossover Album (Field 30, Category 105) - 8.225268
Korngold: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Marco Polo

Gramophone Awards (17^th November 2004)
For its ‘Recording of the Month’, Gramophone has chosen Naxos’s new Vaughan Williams CD: Symphony No. 4, Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 and Flos Campi, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel, featuring viola players Stuart Green and Paul Silverthorne. 8.557276

Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’ awards have also gone to the above recording and to a CD of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy and Serenade in A minor, with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky, featuring the violinist Maxim Fedotov. 8.557395

Norwegian Sibelius Society Award (17^th November 2004)
Pianist Hårvard Gimse has been awarded the ‘Sibelius Prize’ by the Norwegian Sibelius Society. His outstanding performances are well represented on Naxos by five volumes collectively entitled Sibelius: Complete Piano Works [8.553899, 8.554808, 8.554814, 8.555363, 8.555853].

Classical Internet Awards (17^th November 2004)
Naxos is pleased to announce that four of its recent releases have won Classical Internet Awards.
The Classical Internet Awards have been created by Classicstoday.com, ClassicstodayFrance.com and Klassik-Heute.com to summarise the entire range of the year's new releases and offer the broadest possible selection of titles for every taste, unified only by an international consensus regarding the artistic excellence of each disc chosen. The editors of the three affiliated websites and their critics made their recommendations from the vast number of significant discs issued between Autumn 2003 and Autumn 2004.

More information on these awards may be found at http://www.classicstoday.com/awardLink.html.

The Naxos winners are:

Sacred Music
Penderecki: St Luke Passion 8.557149

Vocal Recitals
Austrian Contemporaries, Vol. 2 – Schubert 8.557172

Outstanding New Discoveries
Rochberg: Symphony No. 5, Black Sounds, Transcendental Variations 8.559115

Dvorák Year
Dvorák: Complete Solo Piano Music 8.557474, 8.557475, 8.557476, 8.557477, 8.557478

To find these:
1. From the Browse / Search page, click on 'Opera Libretti', under 'Text Resources' in the left-hand menu.
   
2. From the individual page of a particular opera recording, click on 'Libretto' above the Windows Media Player controls.

RENOWNED MASTER STRING TEACHER
LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE
FREE VIOLIN MASTER CLASS WEBSITE
www.violinmasterclass.com
Created by Kurt Sassmannshaus

The largest and most complete violin master class website in the world received its official launch on September 17, 2004. VIOLIN MASTER CLASS (http://www.violinmasterclass.com) has been created by Kurt Sassmannshaus, chairman of string department at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and son of the renowned German violin pedagogue Egon Sassmannshaus. Offered as a completely free resource, it is the single most comprehensive violin method website ever. Violinmasterclass.com is a ground-breaking global educational project. It's the first website that shows the most important principles and techniques of violin playing via streaming media. Just click to see movies that clearly demonstrate motions, right on your computer. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then streaming media, direct from a web site, is worth ten thousand words! Best of all, the site, which cost nearly a million dollars to create and produce, will be free of charge to the user.

The templates for the structure implemented for each technique are easily understood and intuitive: definition(s), exercises for different levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced), master classes and finally, brilliant performances by Sassmannshaus's own students at the Starling Preparatory String Project and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The viewer will be invited to watch lessons and master classes in a progression of difficulty addressing very specific technical skills. The extreme close ups of left or right hand techniques help to clearly show the important elements of each skill. This site is ideal for violinists who wish to learn from a "remote" master teacher, Kurt Sassmannshaus, with the guidance of his/her own teacher. The site is also a useful resource for teachers, parents, and industry professionals. Even young conductors wishing to learn more detail about violin techniques will find the information valuable. Future plans include sections devoted to the pedagogy community, and on-line contests!