The Amati Quartet is a Canadian string quartet. The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ...
The quartet is associated with the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) is the largest education institution in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. ...
The university owns four rare and highly valuable instruments made by 17th-century luthier Nicolo Amati that it loans to the performers of the quartet. The instruments were sold to the university by farmer and collector Steven Kolbinson in 1959 for CND $20,000 and are now worth over CND $3 million. A luthier is someone who is capable of crafting and repairing any of the many types of stringed instruments. ... Amati is the name of a family of Italian violin-makers, who flourished at Cremona from about 1550 to 1740. ...
There has been some controversy over the instruments. They were loaned to the Lafayette String Quartet of the University of Victoria for some time before being returned to the University of Saskatchewan. The instruments are heald in storage at the University's Archives and are rarely performed. There has been some debate as to whether the instruments should be more regularly performed upon.
Nicolò’s son Girolamo (1649-1740), was the last contributor to the Amati era which left a profound vestige in the crafting of instruments of the violin family.
Stephen Kolbinson, made by the Amati brothers in 1627, was purchased in 1955 from David McCallum, concertmaster of the London Philharmonic.
The Amati cello, made by Heironymous Amati, Nicolò’s son, in 1690, had been given the joint seal of the Plymouth and Clive families (Clive was a general in India).
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