Yesterday, June 4, marked the conclusion of the 2026 violin edition of the CMIM (Concours Musical International de Montréal), which attracted more than 250 applicants. Twenty-four violinists were selected to participate in the first live round in Montreal; from these, ten advanced to the semifinals, five reached the final round, and three were ultimately named winners: twenty-one-year-old Japanese violinist Koshiro Takeuchi (first prize), twenty-one-year-old Japanese violinist Sara Watanabe (second prize), and thirty-one-year-old American violinist Laurel Gagnon (third prize).

The first prize consisted of a cash award of 30,000 Canadian dollars (€18,500) together with a career development prize worth 40,000 Canadian dollars (€24,700). Japanese violinist Koshiro Takeuchi will also receive, on a three-year loan, a Guarneri “del Gesù” violin from the Canimex Musical Instrument Collection.

Canimex is one of Canada’s largest and most established manufacturing companies, founded in Drummondville, Quebec, in 1969. Today the company operates in more than 70 countries and is a leader in the production and international trade of mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and electronic components. It is also one of Canada’s leading business organizations actively supporting the arts, particularly music.

The Canimex Collection includes several important examples of Italian violin making, among them twelve historic instruments regularly loaned to musicians: four violins by Antonio Stradivari (Leopold Auer of 1691, Viotti of 1712, Schönau of 1713, and Eugenio di Barbaro of 1727); the 1699 “Dubois” cello by Antonio Stradivari; two Guarneri “del Gesù” violins (Titano and Bohrer, both dating from 1741); the 1767 cello by Nicolò Gagliano; the “Crafoord” viola from around 1775 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini; and another violin by the same maker from 1785.

More recently, the collection welcomed the 1710 cello by Matteo Gofriller that belonged to Antonio Meneses, who passed away in 2024 and for many years taught both at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona and at the University of Bern.

The transfer of Meneses’ cello into the Canimex Collection was facilitated by Ailbhe Chereau O’Rourke, an Irish lawyer specialized in international commercial and tax law, graduate of HEC Paris, and co-founder and CEO of CELLO INVEST. Over recent years, following her previous experience as Head of Legal Affairs for artistic acquisitions for the French national museums, O’Rourke has played an important role in expanding the holdings of foundations and international organizations that facilitate the loan of exceptional historical instruments to highly talented young musicians.

In Italy, investment in both antique and contemporary string instruments has not yet become a stable part of the so-called “passion asset” market, despite the country’s status as one of the birthplaces of the world’s oldest violin-making traditions. Paradoxically, Italy remains among the countries with the fewest historic instruments consistently loaned to deserving musicians.

Perhaps this anachronistic trend, in the homeland of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri, may soon be reversed, considering that the market for string instruments continues to offer solid returns alongside relatively low maintenance and insurance costs.