The Hutchins Consort may be an innovative violin chamber ensemble which performs on the rare and beautiful Hutchins violins, but that doesn’t mean the group sticks to classical music.
Hutchins Consort celebrated Oktoberfest at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Corona del Mar on Sunday, October 19 by playing German music from polkas to the Chicken Dance (Der Ententanz) for an audience of more than 100 Hutchins supporters, many of whom dressed to the theme and took to the dance floor as the sun set over the bay.
At the event, avid Hutchins Consort supporters Dr. Robert and Ruth Ann Burns were presented with the prestigious Golden Violin Award. The Burns were among the founding members in 1999 and have contributed over the years to the success of the Consort—including attending Consort Residencies at Cornell and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Oktoberfest celebration included a reception with gourmet pretzel appetizers, holiday market, silent auction, concert, and a decadent dinner featuring steak and salmon. In keeping with the German theme, dessert was traditional German Black Forest cake.
Billed as a “Strings Attached” program, funds were raised to develop new strings for Hutchins instruments, which are also played in many foreign countries. The Hutchins Consort is the only professional ensemble in the world performing on Dr. Carleen Hutchins’ violin octet—a distinctive lineup of eight meticulously designed, scientifically-tested violins that collectively span eight octaves and crafted by one of the foremost women luthiers of our time.
The fruits of Dr. Hutchins’ labor are the eight Hutchins violins, ranging in size from the 18.5-inch treble to the 7.2-foot contrabass. They were crafted as a complete set with the same harmonic DNA, giving them the ability to produce a unique array of sounds that add a new dimension to the works they perform.
The ensemble of gifted musicians that play the violins perform virtually every musical genre, from the Renaissance to Rock.
For more information on The Hutchins Consort, visit https://www.hutchinsconsort.org.
