This year’s Cremona Musica Exhibitions and Festival took place from 26–28 September at the Cremona Fiere exhibition centre. The Strad attended with a team of nine, and everyone had their hands full for a bustling weekend!
Team Strad
Our editorial team absolutely thrived in Cremona, and with many new vendors at the event, there were a great deal of new leads for the magazine. Christian caught up with luthiers both new and old, and received forthcoming releases of books, CDs, and even a cake! Rita was able to discover lots of upcoming new products to share with readers, and was delighted to try out an acoustic five-string violin. Lauren attended all the string-related events she could, ran around taking photos of all the pretty instruments – of which there were many – and was greatly enamoured with electric cellos.
The Strad’s advertising team, Mariette and newest team member Elly, had their schedules filled with meetings, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to chat face-to-face rather than through emails! Meanwhile, Paul, David, Bryony, and Enrico oversaw The Strad’s stall, helping customers with subscriptions, books and posters, and offering exclusive deals. We could scarcely keep up with restocking the free copies of The Strad’s September 2025 issue, and hope they will be enjoyed!
We appreciated every visitor that came to see us at the stand, but cannot deny that the dogs that came were our favourites!
The shop and our bestsellers
We were happy to see many luthiers fascinated by our collection of Trade Secrets books, which provide a wealth of information for violin makers at every level. The recently released Trade Secrets 6 was the bestselling book of the weekend. The new Great Instruments 3 book was also of interest, featuring in the offered bundles. On the playing side, our Masterclass Books were popular, with the new Masterclass Volume 2: Violin Works especially piquing the interest of violinists. Our posters were in demand as always, and the bestsellers were by far the 1713 ‘Boissier, Sarasate’ Stradivari violin and the 1730 ‘Farina’ Domenico Montagnana cello.
The Performances
The Strad team was able watch several performances during its time in Cremona. On 25 September, we attended the Friends of Stradivari’s concert honouring Charles Beare, featuring cellists of the Stauffer Academy, and followed by an exclusive tour of the Museo del Violino.
On the first day of the festival, 26 September, we attended the open stage performance by cellist Mayke Rademakers showcasing the sonic possibilities of a Yamaha electric cello. We also watched as violinist Midori was awarded the 2025 Cremona Musica prize for performance, followed by an intimate solo performance of Bach, and later attended her open masterclass at the Stauffer Academy. Meanwhile, other team members of The Strad watched a concert by violinist Giuseppe Gibboni and pianist Cesare Pezzi at Amorim Fine Violins.
The next day, we witnessed an informal concert by the Noûs Quartet at the Thomastik-Infeld stand.
On the final day, we attended cellist and luthier Nicola Segatta’s ‘From Wood to Sound’, a theatrical performance of his own compositions, interspersed with dynamic speech and tactile experiences for the audience to sand the back of an in-progress cello and smell various oils and varnishes used in the process. To round off the day, we watched the Stradivari Festival’s concert at the Giovanni Arvedi Auditorium, featuring violinist Krzysztof Polonek and the Berlin Philharmonic string ensemble.
To wrap up
Cremona Musica is a highlight for The Strad every year, and 2025 was no different. We really appreciated all who took the time to come say hi to us, and we look forward to seeing you at the next event!