Geoffrey Allison, crafting violins in Iraq

This photo of Sgt. Allison is from the Cape Cod Times, Associated Press.

Today, the Cape Cod Times ran this story of U.S. Army Sgt. Geoffrey Allison, who crafts violins in his spare time. Now stationed in Huntsville, Alabama, he made 6 violins while on his 13-month tour of duty in Iraq, 30 since he began learning the craft. What an excellent use of downtime! I trust it also provided some stress-relief and spread the joy of music to others.

I particularly like this part of the story: "I've just been dying to make cellos. It's probably the most beautiful instrument, maybe even surpassing the violin. When you hear a cello play, you know it's a cello. It's got such a rich, deep sound."

Stradivarius in the closet

So this woman walks into the string store where I work occasionally, and says she found a violin in her closet and wants to know what it is worth. It was made by Stradivarius, in 1860, in Czechoslovakia, according to the label.

I said, sure, bring it in and we'll take a look at it. It could be a wonderful instrument to play and it could be valuable, but it is probably not a real Stradivarius. "How can you tell, without looking at it?," she asked.

We talked. I think I convinced her to learn to play her violin. :-)

Of course, she could have meant 1680 and Cremona, and that would be an another story altogether.