(Re) Introducing: John Rihani

(Re) Introducing: John Rihani

As we begin the second month of 2022 and look out at the horizon – hopefully at a post-pandemic world – we decided it would be a good idea to reintroduce the members of our team.  My name is John Rihani and I am the manager of Encore Orchestral Strings.  Paige’s Music...

Humidification on the go!

As we all brace for the coming weather, it’s a good moment to review the importance of humidifying our instruments.  In my experience here in the shop, the larger instruments (cello and bass) are even more susceptible to humidity-related damage than their...

Synthetic core strings for cello?

As with nearly everything else in life, trends come and go.  For as long as I’ve been playing cello, most professional-caliber instruments were set up with steel core strings.  The tungsten-wound Spirocore strings from Thomastik were nearly ubiquitous for the G...

Kicking off 2022 with a couple of fun cellos

Happy New Year!  All of us here at Encore Orchestral Strings and Paige’s Music wish you all the best in the coming year.  We’re excited about what this year will bring and we’re working hard to make sure we have the instruments, bows, cases, and...

John’s Excellent Adventure

John is building a cello!  Well, trying to.  My interest in violin making precedes any serious cello playing I ever did.  My original plan in high school was to attend the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City.  My dad was adamant that I pursue a...

Wiedoeft cello and bass rosin

By popular demand, we are now stocking a limited supply of Wiedoeft cello and bass rosin.  Several of my friends in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra use this and recommend it to their students.  On my rosin shelf at home, I have Pirastro Oliv, Wiedoeft, and Larica...

1974 E.M. Pollmann

Help me welcome a distinguished addition to the Encore family of instruments – this achingly beautiful 1974 E.M. Pollmann “Grodner” model bass.  This instrument came to us in a remarkable state of preservation and Ben Parrott completed a beautiful...

Willow

We talk about the beautiful materials used to build violin-family instruments often on this page.  While maple gets most of the glory in the violin world, there are other woods that are just as lovely. This Rogeri-pattern Shen bass just arrived with this swirly,...

New! Thomastik Rondo viola strings are here

We are excited to have our first sets of Rondo strings for viola in stock now!  As I wrote a while back, I am using the Rondo cello strings on my personal instrument and love them more each time I play.  If you have been breaking up your viola string sets and using a...

Memory lane

Alan Rafferty is a cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, cello faculty at University of Cincinnati – CCM, and Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Young Artists…and he’s also the young man Yo-Yo Ma is instructing in this photo as part of a...