Kevin Sutton wrote: >Mr. Runnion plays on the Guarneri cello from the Joe Q. Gazillionaire >memorial musical instrument collection." Oh my, seeing my name in the same sentence as "Guarneri cello" just made my mouth water and my heart go pitter-pat. A few years ago I went to the General Manager of the orchestra in Barcelona where I was principal cellist to inquire about the possibility of the orchestra purchasing instruments for the principal players. Some orchestras do this, I believe the orchestra in San Antonio Texas has a pair of Strads, and there are others as well. Anyway, he grudgingly agreed to perhaps think about the idea, and said I should look around for an instrument. So I popped off to London, went to one of the fine shops there and said "show me the best you got." I sat in a little room and played an extraordinary instrument, I forget now who the maker was but it was one of the Italian masters. It was an amazing experience. I had never played anything like this. Imagine, if you will, driving a used 2-door Chevy all your life around the secondary highways near Elizabeth, New Jersy. Then you step into a brand-new Maserati and take it for a spin around the Scottish highlands. I was transformed from a fairly decent professional orchestra musician into a world-class soloist with a distinctive voice and exquisite sound. The music flew out of my fingertips with an ease that I had never imagined. At one point I tapped on the back of the instrument with my knuckles and even that sound was musical and full of meaning and life. This is the kind of effect an instrument has on a player. I wanted to spend the rest of my life in that little studio. The price of the instrument was about $350,000. Anyway, I returned to Barcelona ready to negotiate and call the shop and order delivery. Sat down with the manager, a political appointee in Spain who in real life was a car salesman who knew less than nothing about music. I told him about this miraculous instrument. He looked at me and said, "You know, as I understand it, these old instruments, for a while they're pretty good, but after a while they're just OLD. This instrument sounds like it's too OLD. I don't think we can do this." And that was the end of that. >Any ideas on how members of this forum might get such a foundation >started? This is indeed a worthy and wonderful cause and would make a real and enourmous contribution to the advancement of the careers of those who receive the instruments. I believe a foundation like the one Kevin proposes is the best way to approach it. And unlike other foundations that simply give away money and grants, every penny or pound or peseta or mark invested in this foundation would pay returns to the investors, as instruments are a financial commodity, possibly one of the most valuable per ounce that exist. I look forward to seeing how this develops. More Trio Notes at http://www.serafinotrio.com/serafino/trionotes10.html Dave Runnion http://www.mp3.com/serafinotrio