Why This Violinist Is Giving Away 100 Violins

Ray Chen playing violin on street — Ray Chen (Photo: courtesy of the artist)

The celebrated violinist Ray Chen is hosting a giveaway via Tonic, his practice app. Users of the app who accumulate the most hours of practicing within seven-day windows will be eligible to win 1 of 100 Kennedy Violins Chen is giving away.

Catch-up: Ray Chen founded his practice app, Tonic, in 2020. His objective was to motivate young musicians to practice in order to achieve greater success. It is now used in over 130 countries with over 1 million live studios created.

Digging deeper: The 35-year-old violinist Ray Chen has a knack for connecting with younger audiences. In between soloist gigs with orchestras including the Berlin Phil and recordings with his label, Sony Classical, Chen sells video-game inspired merchandise through his brand Ray Chen+. The Australian-Taiwanese violinist also recently made headlines when a fan threw her bra at him during a performance.

And though a free Kennedy Violin would be nice, it’s worth noting that Chen himself plays a 1714 Stradivarius that previously belonged to Jascha Heifetz.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a soprano and writer born and bred in the heart of Toronto’s musical community. When she’s not singing opera, you can find her covering Carole King on the ukulele, biking through the Annex and advocating the merits of Puccini.