The Open String makes it possible for communities to create conservatory quality instruments for themselves.
This violin is a gift!
For children in under-served communities across the world, it’s a lifeline
A path towards excellence and a gateway to possibilities beyond imagination
The latest technologies meet the art of Stradivari and 500 years of violin-making tradition
Upcycled materials transform into conservatory-quality instruments in the hands of recipients
It will touch the lives of thousands.
OUR MISSION
Youth
When children play string instruments together, science and math scores go up, communication improves, violence goes down and the social health of communities improve.
The Open String works with established music programs in under-served areas worldwide to provide essential instruments for children to play music.
Purpose
Distributed manufacturing allows music programs to make their own instruments.
The Open String creates a platform of creative autonomy for children and their communities.
Innovation
Advanced technologies and manufacturing techniques make fine instrument production accessible locally.
The Open String makes it possible for communities to create conservatory quality instruments for themselves.
Sustainability
Communities use repurposed, recycled and responsibly harvested materials to create exceptional instruments.
The Open String approach to instrument making can carry on for generations and create greater health for communities and their environment.
WHO WE ARE
OUR GOAL
The Antonio Stradivarius 'Braga' violin on which our instruments are modelled
WHO WE ARE
There are well-established, effective music programs, orchestras and motivated music teachers around the world. What is lacking - and what we make - are high-quality instruments accessible to children.
With the support of the Cambridge Department of Engineering, we have developed advanced technologies that combine with traditional violin making to create fine instruments based on Antonio Stradivari’s c.1726 ‘Braga’ violin. We have also established an atelier in Cremona, the birth place of Stradivari, associated with the Museo del Violino, to further the research and production.
Thanks to these state-of-the-art technologies, distributed manufacturing of fine instruments has become a scalable reality for the first time.
The children themselves are involved in the final stages of crafting their own instruments, giving them a personal connection to the violin.
The Open String USA was founded by luthier Robert Brewer Young when he was a violin maker's apprentice in the studios above Carnegie Hall. The charity has supported thriving music programmes across the USA and the World by breathing new life into damaged instruments and distributing upcycled materials like strings to communities in need. The Open String USA is a registered non-profit 510(c)3 organization.
The Open String UK seeks to build on the work that was started by The Open String USA and is currently pending registration from the UK Charity Commission. We have a particular focus on empowering communities to craft the instruments that they need in a sustainable way. The Open String UK is fortunate to benefit from the invaluable knowledge, contacts and on-the-ground experience that have been acquired by The Open String USA in their many years of operation.
The Open String UK is an entirely separate organisation with financial independence and a separate governing constitution. While the two organisations frequently collaborate and communicate in order to best fulfil their charitable objectives, they are not a single entity.
