Rare violin music to Jaffa’s ears

A full house of residents and visitors at Jaffa Accommodation for Fellow Aged in Pretoria were treated to a concert on 14 September featuring prize-winning matriculant Emma Stiff playing a rare, almost 200-year-old violin, accompanied by Annalien Ball on piano.

Stiff and Ball performed a wide variety of classical and modern arrangements for the two instruments.

The concert was arranged by Jaffa resident Shirley Gordon, and showcased the exquisite George Craske violin, owned and played by her mother-in-law, Ida, the mother of Victor Gordon. After Ida stopped playing, the instrument remained unused for several years, before Victor had it restored and lent it to Denise Sutton, the concert master of PACT orchestra, where it was played regularly.

Caption: Johnny Gordon, holding the violin, flanked by his mother, Shirley, and sister, Lisa Kowalsky, introduces the recital by relating the history of the instrument.