Screen Shot 2025 02 08 at 14.47.12.png
The Stradivarius violin was just auctioned. Photo: Sotheby's

One of the world's rarest and most sought-after violins, created 311 years ago by legendary violin maker Antonio Stradivari, was auctioned by Sotheby's in New York, USA on February 7.

The Joachim-Ma Stradivarius, considered one of the world's finest violins, is being auctioned to raise funds for scholarships at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. The previous most expensive instrument was another Stradivarius violin, which sold for $15.9 million in 2011.

"The violin was made during Antonio Stradivari's golden period. So it's the best quality and the most outstanding violin of that period. Brahms wrote the Violin Concerto for this violin. It first appeared in the mid-1800s," Mari-Claudia Jiménez, president of Sotheby's Americas, told WBZ-TV.

311-year-old violin sells for over $11 million at auction.mp4
The violin is said to be of the best quality.

The instrument belonged to 19th-century violinist Joseph Joachim before being acquired by Chinese violinist Si-Hon Ma in 1969. After his death in 2009, his family donated it to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he received his master's degree in music in 1950.

It was auctioned on February 7 to raise money for scholarships for students at this conservatory because tuition fees here are extremely expensive.

With a starting price of $8 million, the violin quickly reached $10 million in just seconds before Sotheby's hammered it. The violin went to its new owner for $11.3 million including taxes and fees, but the identity of the buyer has not been revealed.

Quynh An - According to CBS

A hobby that requires a lot of effort: Xuan Huy with his priceless gold-plated porcelain violin

- Violinist Xuan Huy excitedly shares about his "treasure" after 4 years of dedicated research and creation - the world's first ceramic violin that can be performed.