Delaware
Delaware’s Calidore unlock origin story of their golden instruments
John Williams from ‘Star Wars’ hops on album by Delaware’s Calidore
The Calidore String Quartet, from University of Delaware, landed iconic “Star Wars” composer John Williams on their 2026 album “American Tapestry.”
- The Calidore String Quartet, in residence at the University of Delaware, features instruments with unique histories.
- Calidore’s next show is at University of Delaware on April 6.
- The group’s oldest instruments are from 1775.
When you’re in a world-class chamber group like The Calidore String Quartet in Delaware, each instrument carries more than just a rich tune.
Those prized instruments also string together a colorful backstory.
Calidore, which serves as the Distinguished String Quartet in Residence at University of Delaware, unveiled the tales behind each member’s instruments, before their homecoming concert at UD’s Gore Recital Hall in Newark April 6.
Jeffrey Myers of Calidore rocks a violin from 1775
Chamber musicians widely recognize Antonio Stradivari, the 17th-century Italian craftsman, as the No. 1 violin maker, Calidore violinist Jeffrey Myers said.
The No. 3 spot is claimed by the guy who made Myers’ violin: Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, the 18th-century Italian who crafted his “Eisenberg” instrument in circa 1775. He currently uses bows by Dominique Peccatte and Francois Tourte.
Myers’ instrument belonged to the late David Niwa, assistant concertmaster for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, who died young in his 50s in 2022. Myers is originally from Columbus, Ohio, and was already familiar with that particular violin, long before he started using it.
“I actually grew up watching and hearing this instrument being played,” Myers said.
Niwa’s wife, a pianist, has decided to loan the instrument to Myers on an extended basis.
“I’m very fortunate to get to play it,” Myers said. “These instruments are … they’re really just pieces of artwork.”
Jeremy Berry finds his stringed boo: ‘I never turned back’
Calidore violist Jeremy Berry has the youngest instrument in the group: one made by Umberto Muschietti from circa 1903, with a bow by Pierre Simon.
Berry said he stumbled across that viola when he was getting a previous one repaired and needed a substitute. That’s when Julie Reed-Yeboah, the acclaimed owner of Reed Yeboah Fine Violins in New York City, played matchmaker and introduced him to his current stringed boo.
Reed-Yeboah “was clearly a very good salesperson,” Berry said with a laugh. “She said, ‘why don’t you play on this for a bit?’ And I never turned back.”
Estelle Choi’s cello ‘has a lot of sentimental value’
Around 2013, Estelle Choi began playing a cello created by Charles Jacquot (circa 1830). The instrument was loaned by her former teacher Ron Leonard, an esteemed musician who was on the cello faculty at Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, before he retired in 2017.
Choi said she initially used a different cello on loan, but after taking it in for an “annual check-up,” she asked Leonard if she could borrow one of his.
“At that point, that’s when he lent me this cello that I now own,” Choi explained. After about a decade of borrowing the instrument, Choi finally bought it from her former teacher, just two or three years ago.
“I own the instrument that my teacher originally got as a teenager,” she said. “It sort of has a lot of sentimental value.”
Ryan Meehan knew it was love at ‘first note’
Calidore violinist Ryan Meehan uses a bow by Joseph Henry and a violin by Vincenzo Panormo (circa 1775). The instrument is tied with Myers’ for being the oldest in the group, and Meehan acquired it thanks to Robert Lipsett, the violinist’s former instructor at the Colburn School.
Meehan said Lipsett is a “world-renowned violin teacher” who is also “a great collector of instruments.”
When Meehan was looking for an instrument, Lipsett called to let him know there was a violin he might be interested in that another student passed on. But Lipsett didn’t know if the instrument was still available. Meehan eventually tracked it down.
“I knew from the first note that, that was [my instrument],” Meehan said. “After searching for so long, you know it when you know it. I feel very lucky.”
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters