Gagliano c1780 violin “The Oliveira” for Melissa White
Highlights
Patrons came together to invest in a violin circa 1780 by Ferdinando Gagliano of Naples loaned to rising star soloist Melissa White.
Ferdinando Gagliano violins have historically experienced 8.0% average annual price appreciation.*
A very similar Gagliano violin recently sold at auction in Paris for $340,000 (>360k euro)**.
This instrument was owned and played by Elmar Oliveira, one of the leading violinists of our generation, on a Grammy-nominated recording.
The instrument is fully insured for its appraised value, worldwide, wherever Ms. White travels and performs.
Investors also receive exclusive updates on Melissa White’s performances and will have opportunities to hear their investment in action.
Hear Melissa White Speak About the Violin
Hear her own words what it has done for her playing so far. Your investment will help keep the violin in her hands for years.
More about this Gagliano Violin
This Ferdinando Gagliano violin comes with a certificate of authenticity from Kenneth Warren & Son, Ltd., providing an expert opinion of its authenticity as the work of Ferdinando Gagliano.
The violin is also accompanied by a letter from renowned violinist Elmar Oliveira dated July 13, 2010 stating the violin was used on one of his Grammy-nominated recordings.
Both documents help prove the authenticity of the instrument and will be kept in a safe location on behalf of the LLC.
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By the mid 18th century, Cremona’s “golden period” of production (which included Stradivari’s most famous works) started fading. It was around this time that the Neapolitan makers and especially the Gaglianos rose to prominence.
The Gagliano family dynasty of luthiers became by far the most prolific and skilled in violin-making in and around Naples during the 18th century.
Ferdinando Gagliano, the oldest son of Nicolo Gagliano, is believed to have been most active in building instruments from c1770 to c1795. His violins are notable for strong tonal characteristics as compared to other members of the Gagliano family.
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Elmar Oliveira, considered one of the leading violinists of our generation, remains the first and only American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition. Additionally, he won First Prize at the Naumburg Competition and was the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.
In 2016, Oliveira founded the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC), to provide career support to young violinists ages 16-32. In 2021, he founded the Elevar Foundation, the new home of the EOIVC, to provide free or low-cost access to music and music instruments to underserved communities.
An accomplished recording artist, Oliveira played this Gagliano violin on his recording of two violin concerti (by Ernest Bloch and by Benjamin Lees) with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Oliveira, together with conductor John McLaughlin Williams, were nominated for a Grammy in 2009 for the recording in the category of “Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra).
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Strumenti.com ensures all instruments are insured to cover the costs of a restoration (and/or devaluation, if any), even while the musician is traveling anywhere in the world. Covered losses under stringed instrument policies include accidental breakage, theft, accidental loss, water damage, hurricane, wind, earthquake, fire, vandalism, among others.
In addition, all musicians will have maintenance and use agreements for the instruments, to keep them in their best possible condition. These agreements require the instrument to be kept in proper environmental conditions at all times, and have regular checkups with authorized restorer or repair technician of the highest quality and expertise. We oversee and approve even minor sound adjustments and regular routine maintenance requests, limited to work from the best restorers in the industry worldwide.
Melissa White, violinist
Melissa White is a first-prize laureate in the Sphinx Competition, and co-founder of the New York-based Harlem Quartet with whom she has worked with such classical-music luminaries as Itzhak Perlman, Ida Kavakian, Paul Katz, and Anthony McGill. She has performed with such leading U.S. ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Atlanta, Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras.
Ms. White made her Aspen Festival Debut in August 2022 as featured soloist and conductor with an evening of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Bach’s A Minor Concerto No. 1. The Aspen performance was her first opportunity to play this Gagliano violin in public.
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In addition to the major US orchestras, Ms. White has toured internationally, and appeared as soloist with Poland’s Fillharmonia Dolnoslaska; with the Colombian Youth Orchestra in a tour of that country; with the Czech National Philharmonic; and as a recitalist in Baku, Azerbaijian, and Jelenia Gora, Poland. Her film credits include a violin solo in the soundtrack to Jordan Peele’s 2019 psychological thriller Us; and in addition to her numerous classical performances, she has also performed alongside several pop artists including Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, and Lauryn Hill. Ms. White’s recent orchestral activity includes engagements with the National Philharmonic, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and debuts with the Richmond, Cincinnati, and Midland Symphony Orchestras, the Brevard Music Center and Heartland Festival Orchestras.
The New York-based Harlem Quartet, of which Ms. White is a founding member, has appeared in many of the country’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, the White House, and the Kennedy Center; and performed throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe, Africa, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Harlem Quartet was named quartet-in-residence at Montclair State University in the fall of 2021; and has been the visiting quartet-in-residence at the Royal College of Music in London since 2016. Ms. White currently serves as Music Artist Faculty at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
A native of Michigan, she holds performance degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory, where her teachers included Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Donald Weilerstein, and Miriam Fried.
Melissa White is represented worldwide by New York-based Sciolino Artist Management.
Melissa White conducts and performs Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Excerpt from “Summer”
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* internal study of publicly available auction data 1967-2018. Past price trends are asset class averages, not indicative of future price trends and are not intended to be a proxy for historical or projected future performance. Click here to learn more about the violin market and the factors that we consider when choosing an instrument.