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JAIME PAZ WEISENBLUM, OWNER

Brazilian-born, Canadian violinist Jaime Weisenblum began playing the violin at the age of 3. He gave his first public performance at 5, and made his solo debut with orchestra at 7. At 10 he continued his studies in Rio de Janeiro with Hungarian soloist and pedagogue Josef Biro. He won the Gold Medal at the Rio de Janeiro International Violin Competition at 11, and performed the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Brazilian National Orchestra, Eleazar de Carvalho conducting. And that was just the beginning of his illustrious performing career!

Jaime left Brazil to study in Switzerland with Rudolph Baumgartner and Franco Gulli, and at the young age of 18 became concertmaster of the famed Festival Strings Lucerne, one of Europe's finest chamber orchestras!

From Switzerland he moved to New York where he entered the Juilliard School of Music; his violin teachers were Ivan Galamian and Dorothy De Lay and his chamber music coaches included Oscar Shumsky, Felix Galimir and Joseph Gingold. That he was asked on many occasions to perform in chamber music recitals with all three of these great artists, Shumsky, Galimir and Gingold, is an undisputable measure of his musical abilities and achievements. For 3 years he toured the United States with Music from Marlboro and New York's famed Empire Sinfonietta.

As a chamber musician, Jaime has also collaborated with many artists, including Jean Pierre Rampal, Yo Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Franco Gulli, Elly Ameling, and Rainer Moog.

He has performed as soloist with many notable conductors: Carlos Kleiber, Leonard Bernstein, Leon Barzin, Pierre Boulez, Erich Leinsdorf, Thomas Schippers and Lukas Foss.

Jaime is also highly respected as a concertmaster, and has served in this position in numerous fine orchestras, among them the Canadian Opera Orchestra, Italy's Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and both the New York City Ballet and Opera orchestras, in addition to the Festival Strings Lucerne.

In 1982, Jaime co-founded the highly acclaimed Canadian Trio. For three decades this ensemble earned high praise from international press and performed world wide in many of the finest concert halls. With a discography of 11 recordings, the trio gained global recognition, winning several Grand Prix du Disque, Grammy and Juno Awards.

In the 1970s Manhattan was a mecca for many of the world's finest string instrument experts whose violin shops were internationally renowned: Rembrandt Wurlitzer, Jacques Français, and Mosa Havivi. Jaime was fortunate to be a part of this era known as the "Golden Years." While attending the Juilliard School, Jaime began an apprenticeship in instrument repair and restoration at Havivi Violins, and soon was also appointed Director of Sales. This led to further invaluable training and learning opportunities, and contacts with the above-mentioned dealers and the experts and makers who are also noted in the Home section of this website. Jaime is especially grateful for the historical training and recognition techniques he garnered from his time with the great Dario D'Atili. During these years and those that have ensued, many of the world's finest instruments and bows passed through his hands, and he has had the opportunity to work on many of them.