A 311-Year-Old Stradivarius Violin Sells for $11.25 Million at Sothebys

A 311-year-old Stradivarius violin sold for $11.25 million at Sotheby’s on Friday, in a closely watched auction that drew interest from investors, collectors and classical musicians.The violin was made by the famed Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari in 1714, during the so-called golden period of violin making.It was owned later owned by one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century, the Hungarian-born virtuoso Joseph Joachim, a close associate of Johannes Brahms.The Stradivarius was sold by the New England Conservatory, which plans to use the proceeds of the sale to endow a student scholarship program.

The instrument was previously owned by an alumnus of the school, Si-Hon Ma, who died in 2009.His estate donated the instrument to the New England Conservatory in 2015 with a provision that it could one day be sold to finance student scholarships.“Now we really have the chance to have it benefit so many more students — generations of students to come,” said Andrea Kalyn, the president of the conservatory.Among violins sold publicly at auction, the current record is held by the so-called “Lady Blunt” Stradivarius, once owned by the granddaughter of Lord Byron, which sold in 2011 for $15.9 million.The instrument sold on Friday was one of several violins owned by Joachim, who premiered the Brahms violin concerto in 1879.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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