The first Stradivari violin to be given to the Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank, it remains in top-class condition
The Canada Council for the Arts is the country’s public arts funder. Through its programme of grants, services, prizes and payments, it supports and promotes the nation’s arts scene both across Canada and internationally. The Strad Calendar 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of its Musical Instrument Bank by showcasing twelve of the finest instruments in its collection.
- 1717 ‘Windsor, Weinstein’ Stradivari violin
This is the first instrument by master maker Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) to have been given to the Musical Instrument Bank. It originally came to Canada when it was bought in 1958 by the businessman Leon E. Weinstein, president of the Loblaws supermarket group. Weinstein donated the violin to the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1980, in the hope that it might prove to be the foundation of an instrument bank of its own; in the event, the foundation passed it on to the Canada Council in 1988 when it became part of the MIB.
The ‘Windsor, Weinstein’ has had an illustrious history prior to Weinstein’s purchase. Among its notable owners were the British artist William Bruce Ellis Ranken; Felix E. Kahn, a director of Paramount Pictures Corporation who in his time owned five Stradivari violins; and the soloist Sascha Jacobsen, who used it as his principal performing instrument.
With so much playing, it is remarkable that the instrument remains in top-class condition, with hardly any visible wear and so much original red–brown varnish, although much of the blackening of the chamfers has now gone. The top is of two pieces of medium-grain spruce, widening at the flanks, while the back is of two pieces of strongly figured maple. It is currently played by Emma Meinrenken.
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Photo: Donna Santos Studio
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The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.
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