dude you shoulnd`t expose ur violin to those temperatures if u live in the northeast. its friggin freezing out there.

what is your idea of a professional?

My idea of a professional is someone who has reached a high level of technicality and musicality in his or her playing, regardless of whether he or she has a formal music education or being employed to play.

It`s quite simple. A professional is someone who makes a full time living from whatever they are a professional at. So a professional footballer makes a living from playing football, a professional painter makes a living from painting, a professional author makes a living from writing books, a professional photographer makes a living from taking photographs and a professional violinist makes a living from playing the violin (not merely teaching it!).

Since the only way to make a living from playing the violin is to be employed in a professional orchestra (or to have reached the level where you are hired as a soloist by enough orchestras to make a full time living) Rebecca is not a professional violinist. End of story.

Liz

liz i wasent asking you, dont be rude, I agree with the other guy... I get paid $100 or more after a concert (depending on how many practices and concerts) plus getting paid to teach violin and play private gigs with my duo (soon to be trio, were adding a flute) or solo. I am homeschooled so I can finish highschool two years early and go to a music concervatory. I have already perfected the adution pieces for Peabody and am working on the ones for Oberlin.
thanks
Rebecca

Well, Rebecca, apart from the rather obvious point that you yourself have much to learn in terms of manners, it is accepted internet etiquette that anyone on a forum can answer any post unless, perhaps, it is specifically addressed to someone else, which yours was not. If no-one is mentioned then the question is assumed to be directed at the forum as a whole.

So you get paid $100 for a concert. Have you any idea what the average US wage is? How many concerts (and gigs) do you do a year?

Quite why you are so obsessed with being acknowledged as a professional is frankly a mystery to me. Professionals go to music college FIRST ...

Anyway i am sure we will all be delighted to hear how you got on in your audtion (perfect?! At 14?! My goodness, you ARE a talented individual aren`t you ... or just a terribly arrogant and naive teenager ..)

Liz

Hello everyone, I found this thread looking for information on a violin I am buying. A friend of mine plays the violin in Friday Harbor for the theater and has a John Jusak 1931 made in Prague. He wanted 2,500 for it. Well he traded it for a car and didn`t get the car. He talked me into buying a Carlo Micelli violin for 2,200 and if I want he would trade straight across with me. How do I determine the better violin. He tells me the Carlo Micelli is the better violin, but I am in love his violin, that is if he can get it back. The Carlo Micelli is a 1923 violin and the sound is in balance. Forgive me for any terms I am not saying correctly, I am just starting to learn to play the violin. Any information would be lovely. Thank you and have a great Christmas.
Michele

ok sure, we are all sceptic about rebeccas truthfulness here.

but we have to look at the facts, she says she has a maggini, and she says she is a professional. ok. we might not believe her, BUT we have to respect the fact that she plays this instrument, and probably plays it VERY well. im siding with rebecca, what ever shes done, its probably amazing. i dont have anything against liz here, she has a very big rep on these boards, but hey, we are all violinists here, arent we? cant we all just lighten up and give this girl a chance? you never know, one day she might be in our faces.

good luck rebecca, play well
KC

p.s. we just all gotta chill

sorry, just had to post again. i think the point we are all trying to make is that, everyone is not taking things as real as we should. im 14, i have dreams of becoming some big violinist, sure... id love to go pro. rebecca, could be pro. or be prepared to be pro.. you can be so good that you just need the age.

haha guys, lay off the girl, let her have some fun...

thanks kirk

you all dont have to believe me if you dont want to, all that matters is that I know that I`m telling the truth.

Hey, she is a great 14 year old girl who is doing great things. Excuse me but to attack a 14 year old on the internet for just stating what she is doing is not appropiate. I found this forum looking for information on an old violin I am buying. Flaming isn`t what I was looking for. I am a mom and homeschool a child a year older than Rebecca and he learned how to play the Highland Bagpipes on his own. He is now in a grade 4 band 3 hours away. We need to support these kids for the great things they are doing. No one but Rebecca had anything to tell me about the violin I am buying. See how smart these kids are?
Liz, the homeschooled kids in America have manners, do great things and turn out to be wonderful adults. My husband is British and it is so different in England I know it is hard for you to comrehend. Can any one else tell me about my violin?
Thank you Rebecca!

Merry Christmas from Michele in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island

Michelle, if you read through the entire thread, it should be clear what is going on here.

I am curious about why you should post on a forum such as this and expect us all to know about the violins you are considering. As far as I know, this forum contains one maker and two dealers, and all of us are in the market dealing with new instruments. Rebecca is not a dealer or any sort of expert on violins, any more
than she is a professional player (does your law allow for full time employment of 14 year olds?) or any more than she has a genuine Maggini (hers has an extra turn on the scroll which is common to copies of a certain period, and it was certified only by two sources no dealer on maestronet had even heard of)

I have heard good things about Jusek but have never heard of the other maker. The place to ask is maestronet, that is where the dealers and luthiers hang out.

I have absolutely nothing against homeschooling. If I had children and lived in the US I might very well do that myself.

Liz

Well, Suppose, if i quit my full time job and take it to the streets to play my violin full time and to depend on that as my only source of income, then according to Liz`s definition, i am a professional violinist, because i make a living by playing the violin full time, just that i`m doing it on the streets. And I`m sure that i`m definitely not even half as good as Rebecca in terms of my violin playing skills, but yet i can still be considered a professional. It`s all just a matter of qualifying what one means by professional.

I have a 13 year old niece who is big into biology. She`s been fascinated by bones and has pieced together bits of animal skeletons she`s found in the woods and that people have brought her. She knows more about bones than I do.

However, should I break a leg or an arm, I think I`ll go to the hospital instead of seeing her about it. For some reason I tend to place more faith in professionals. Silly me.

Oh yes, I`m against homeschooling in general. Very few parents have the cummulative skills needed to turn out a well-rounded child able to interact successfully with society at large. I`ve found most homeschooled children to be undereducated in general, or have a very narrow expertise strongly biased to the interests of the parents. They also tend to be socially awkward among their peers and not able to deal well with institutionalized settings. Considering that is where most of today`s children will be working (in one form or another) I find most homeschooling does the child a great disadvantage.

If all that parental anger, righteousness and energy went into improving education in the public school system things would be much better for all children.