What Violins Do Famous Violinists Play? The Instruments of Today’s Best Soloists

Ask any concertgoer to name the best violinist in the world and you will get a different answer every time. What almost everyone agrees on, though, is the shortlist: Itzhak Perlman, Anne Sophie Mutter, Leonidas Kavakos, Hilary Hahn, Giuseppe Gibboni, and a handful of rising stars who are redefining the instrument for a new generation.

What is less often discussed is the instrument itself. Behind every one of these performances is a specific violin, often centuries old, sometimes newly made, and always chosen with enormous care. Some soloists own their violins outright. Others perform on instruments loaned by foundations or private collectors. A growing number play modern instruments built by living makers who study the old Cremonese masters closely enough to recreate their voice.

This article looks at the violins played by today’s most recognized soloists, who made them, and whether each artist owns, borrows, or commissions the instrument that carries their sound around the world.

Top 20 Violinists in the World Today

Talent gets a violinist noticed. What keeps them at the top, night after night, is often the instrument in their hands. Here are 20 of today’s most recognized soloists, and the violin behind each one.

1. Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman remains one of the most recognizable names in classical music, admired for a refinement of tone that has shaped how several generations of violinists approach the instrument. Perlman owns the 1714 “Soil” Stradivarius, widely regarded as one of the finest surviving examples from Stradivari’s golden period. The violin takes its name from a Belgian industrialist who once owned it and was played for decades by Yehudi Menuhin before passing to Perlman.

Unlike many soloists who perform on loaned instruments, Perlman is the outright owner of his Stradivarius, a violin he has played in recital halls and recording studios worldwide for most of his professional life.

2. Anne Sophie Mutter

Anne Sophie Mutter, often introduced as one of the defining violinists of her generation, owns two Stradivari violins rather than one: the “Emiliani” of 1703 and the “Lord Dunn Raven” of 1710, acquired in 1979 and 1984 respectively. She performs primarily on the “Lord Dunn Raven,” which she has described as having a bold, penetrating quality suited to the large scale concertos she is best known for, including several works written specifically for her by contemporary composers.

Mutter’s case is a useful reminder that even at the very top of the profession, owning a fine instrument outright, rather than performing on a loan, remains entirely possible for a small number of established artists.

3. Leonidas Kavakos

Leonidas Kavakos built his reputation through a run of major competition wins in the 1980s, including the Sibelius, Paganini, and Naumburg competitions, and has since become one of the most respected violinists, conductors, and chamber musicians working today. He currently performs on the “Willemotte” Stradivarius of 1734 and on its bench copy made by Luiz Amorim, an instrument known for its tonal depth and responsiveness, after years spent playing other historic Stradivari including the “Abergavenny” and “Falmouth.”

Kavakos’s relationship with fine violin making extends beyond performance. He collaborated with Cremonese luthier Luiz Amorim on a limited series of seven handcrafted violins built as a tribute to his own Willemotte Stradivari, each one signed by both maker and musician. It is one of the clearest examples of a working soloist actively shaping how a new instrument is built, rather than simply choosing between existing antiques.

4. Hilary Hahn

Hilary Hahn is a three time Grammy Award winner and one of the most consistently respected violinists of the past two decades, known for combining technical precision with a genuine curiosity about new repertoire.

Her primary instrument is a violin made in 1864 by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, a copy of Paganini’s “Cannone,” which she pairs with a bow by American maker Isaac Salchow and strings from Thomastik Infeld and Pirastro. She also owns a second Vuillaume from 1865, loosely modeled on the 1715 “Alard” Stradivari.

Hahn’s choice of a fine Vuillaume, rather than an original Stradivari or Guarneri, is worth noting. It reflects a broader pattern among serious professionals: what matters is not the label inside the instrument but the quality of the workmanship and how well the violin responds to the player. A well built copy or a period French masterpiece can serve a world class soloist just as faithfully as an eighteenth century Cremonese original, provided the instrument itself is exceptional.

5. Maxim Vengerov

Maxim Vengerov, often introduced as one of the finest violinists of his generation, purchased the 1727 “ex Kreutzer” Stradivarius at auction in 1998, an instrument once owned by Rodolphe Kreutzer, the dedicatee of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata.

Unlike most of his peers, Vengerov owns the violin outright rather than performing on a loan, and he has paired it for years with a bow that once belonged to Jascha Heifetz.

6. Julia Fischer

Julia Fischer plays a 1742 violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, purchased in 2004, alongside a modern instrument made by German luthier Philipp Augustin in 2018. Before settling on the Guadagnini, she performed for several years on the 1716 “Booth” Stradivari, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

Her choice to move from a loaned Stradivari to an owned Guadagnini, and later to add a contemporary instrument into regular rotation, reflects how a maker’s reputation rather than a single famous name can define a soloist’s sound.

7. Joshua Bell

Joshua Bell plays the 1713 “Gibson ex Huberman” Stradivari, an instrument with a dramatic history of two thefts, which he owns outright and has described as feeling like an extension of his own voice.

8. Janine Jansen

Janine Jansen has performed on the 1727 “Barrere” Stradivari on extended loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago, and more recently on the “Shumsky Rode” Stradivari of 1715, made available to her by a European benefactor.

9. Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer, one of the most influential violinists of the past half century, currently performs on a 1641 violin by Nicolò Amati, a maker who predates both Stradivari and Guarneri and taught many of the Cremonese tradition’s later masters.

Over the course of his career Kremer has also performed on various Stradivari and Guarneri instruments, making him one of the few living soloists with hands on experience across all three of Cremona’s defining workshops.

10. Frank Peter Zimmermann

Frank Peter Zimmermann performs on the 1711 “Lady Inchiquin” Stradivarius, on loan from the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen in Düsseldorf, part of the state art collection of North Rhine Westphalia. It is a rare example of a public art institution, rather than a private foundation or bank, placing a Stradivarius in the hands of a working soloist.

11. Ray Chen

Ray Chen, the Taiwanese Australian violinist who trained at Curtis, performs on the 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivari, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation and once played by Jascha Heifetz.

12. Daniel Hope

Daniel Hope plays the 1742 “ex Lipiński” Guarneri del Gesù, placed at his disposal by an anonymous German family, an instrument once associated with the Polish violinist Karol Lipiński.

13. Isabelle Faust

Isabelle Faust has performed on the 1704 “Sleeping Beauty” Stradivari since 1996, on loan from Landesbank Baden Württemberg.

14. Gil Shaham

Gil Shaham performs on the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivari, made during the period when Stradivari was experimenting with a longer body shape.

15. Augustin Hadelich

Augustin Hadelich has, since 2019, played the 1744 “Leduc” Guarneri del Gesù, on extended loan through the Tarisio Trust, an instrument previously played for over thirty years by the Polish violinist Henryk Szeryng.

Before the Leduc, Hadelich performed for nine years on a 1723 “ex Kiesewetter” Stradivari, giving him direct experience of both major Cremonese workshops within a single career, and offering a useful point of comparison for anyone curious about the difference between a Stradivari and a Guarneri del Gesù voice.

16. Nicola Benedetti

Nicola Benedetti has played the 1717 “Gariel” Stradivarius since 2012, on loan from London banker and philanthropist Jonathan Moulds. The arrangement is one of the more visible examples of a private individual, rather than an institutional foundation, placing a historic instrument with a leading soloist for an extended period.

17. Vilde Frang

Vilde Frang was granted a long term loan of the 1734 “Rode” Guarneri del Gesù in 2021, following a four year search for the right instrument. Her account of that search, trying numerous historic violins before settling on the Rode, illustrates just how deliberate the process of matching a soloist to an instrument can be, even for an artist already at the top of her field.

18. Giuseppe Gibboni

Among the younger generation, Giuseppe Gibboni has the most striking recent story. In 2021, at just 20 years old, he became the first Italian in 24 years to win the prestigious Premio Paganini in Genoa, taking first prize along with the audience award and two special prizes for his interpretation of Paganini’s own repertoire.

As part of that honor, Gibboni was invited to perform on Paganini’s own instrument, the 1743 Guarneri del Gesù known as “Il Cannone,” an experience reserved for only a handful of violinists each generation.

For his regular concert work, Gibboni has performed on a 1734 Stradivari known as the “Lam, Ex Scotland University,” on loan through Classically Connected, more recently on the 1722 “Jupiter” Stradivari, made available to him by the Nippon Music Foundation and his own Luiz Amorim violin a copy of Guarneri del Gesu ‘Stauffer’..

The “Lam, Ex Scotland University” violin has a documented history that runs through English and American collections before settling in the celebrated Sau Wing Lam collection, and it is now part of the instruments available through Amorim Fine Violins, a rare case where the public can see, in detail, the exact type of instrument that carries a major competition winner’s career.

19. Chloe Chua

Chloe Chua, one of the most promising young violinists to emerge in recent years, plays a 1729 violin by Peter Guarneri of Venice, on generous loan from the Rin Collection.

20. Simon Zhu

Simon Zhu, winner of the 57th Premio Paganini in 2023, plays a violin by Zosimo Bergonzi, on loan from the Stretton Society. As the most recent Paganini Competition winner, he was also given the opportunity to perform on the “Il Cannone” Guarneri del Gesù, following the same tradition that brought Gibboni to the same instrument two years earlier.

Owned, On Loan, or Newly Commissioned: How Soloists Access These Instruments

Looking across these examples, a pattern becomes clear. Very few violinists, even at the highest level, actually own the instrument they perform on.

Perlman, Mutter, and Bell are among the exceptions, having acquired their Stradivari through private purchase over the course of long careers. Far more common is the loan arrangement: foundations around the world, along with private collectors and banks, place rare instruments in the hands of promising or established soloists, preserving both the instrument’s condition and its musical relevance.

A third path, increasingly common, is the commissioned modern instrument built in the tradition of the old masters. Kavakos’s collaboration with Luiz Amorim is one example.

Amorim’s own copy of the 1744 Guarneri del Gesù “Leduc” is another, a bench made instrument that recreates the arching, varnish, and tonal character of one of Guarneri’s final and most celebrated violins, at a fraction of the cost of an authentic eighteenth century original.

For working musicians who cannot access a museum grade Stradivari through a foundation loan, a faithfully made copy by a serious contemporary luthier is often the most realistic route to that same voice.

The Makers Behind the Legends: Stradivari, Guarneri, and Guadagnini

Nearly every violin discussed here traces back to three names.

Antonio Stradivari, working in Cremona, produced around 1,100 instruments over his career, of which roughly 650 survive. His golden period violins, made between 1700 and 1720, remain the benchmark against which most fine violins are still measured, prized for their brilliance, projection, and beauty.

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, Stradivari’s younger Cremonese contemporary, built fewer instruments but is equally revered, particularly for the darker, more powerful voice associated with his later violins, including the “Cannone” played by Paganini and now occasionally by Paganini Competition winners such as Gibboni.

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, active later in the eighteenth century across Piacenza, Milan, Parma, and Turin, is often described as the finest maker of the period following Stradivari’s death, combining Cremonese tradition with a distinct personal style that collectors and performers still seek out today.

The Instrument Behind the Artist

What ties all these stories together is simple. Whether owned outright, placed on loan by a foundation, or newly commissioned from a living Cremonese maker, the violins played by the world’s leading soloists share one quality: they are, without exception, fine instruments built or recreated with extraordinary skill.

Talent alone does not produce the sound heard in a concert hall. It takes an instrument capable of carrying that talent.

For musicians and collectors exploring that same territory, from historic Cremonese violins to expert modern copies of Stradivari and Guarneri models, Amorim Fine Violins maintains a collection of rare and historic instruments reflecting the same standards found behind the world’s best known soloists.