Rodney Friend
Artistic Director
30TH JULY - 5TH AUGUST 2020
Anna Stokes
Course Manager /
PA to FIVA Artistic Director
FIVA Award
We are delighted to announce that Howard Green has generously gifted one of his top of the range bows as the inaugural FIVA award for the student who has shown the most discipline and potential throughout the course. The FIVA faculty and Artistic Director will jointly make the final decision on the recipient of this award.
The FIVA student who is awarded this beautiful prize will receive a beautiful Howard Green gold mounted, buffalo horn bow.
Everyone who completes the FIVA course will receive a certificate of participation. Rodney Friend will announce the winner of the FIVA award during the final panel discussion of the course.
(N.B Bow pictured above is a generic image from Howard Green's gallery.)
Testimonials from our very own FIVA Artistic Director and Faculty
"Howard Green is a bow maker of exceptional ability, with an understanding of what is required both tonally and technically by violinists of all levels. An important maker whom I recommend without reservation"
Rodney Friend - Former Concert Master, New York Philharmonic and Professor of the Royal College Of Music / Current Professor of Violin - Royal Academy of Music, London.
"I like Howard Green’s bows very much. I bought two of them myself and have performed with them. I would not hesitate to recommend them to any serious performers and anyone looking for fine bows."
Cho-Liang Lin - Juilliard School soloist, Professor of Violin, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University
Howard Green - My Bow Making Philosophy
" My work is to make bows that are a natural extension of the arm with balance, strength, tone, flexibility, and many other attributes, making a bow that becomes a living entity with its own ‘soul’.
Soul for me means that undefinable quality that works with the player’s technique to turn notes into music. Soul means a player’s instant realization that something special is happening after playing the first few notes. Soul means an abundance of empathy between the player and the bow. "
Materials and Making Philosophy
Every element of my bows is handmade by me from materials of the highest quality. I use no bought-in or semi-finished parts except the adjuster screw.
All this individual preparation of parts inevitably makes for a significantly longer build-time, but results in bows with originality, personality and individuality.
This is especially true when they are made to specific order, as I much prefer, after thorough consultation with the player. We discuss specific requirements (which can include the need to match with a particular instrument and its characteristics), and aspirations - what it is the player hopes the Howard Green bow will help them achieve. As a cellist myself, I have the player's understanding of the complexities which a bow must handle, and as a maker the satisfaction of these (sometimes contradictory) requirements gives me my greatest pleasure.
Working to make a bow in harmony with both player and instrument inspires me; and to all the many string players for whom I have achieved this goal, I thank you for your trust and look forward to a beautiful future, continuing to make bows for great musicians, and enabling their music to resonate in our age.
FIVA Award Recipient 2020
The recipient of the FIVA Award 2020 has been awarded to violinist, Feodor Ludevig.