A new violin making project has been set up to create a ‘legacy’ string quartet.
The Scouservarius Project will bring together a number of volunteers that will make two violins, violas and cellos without any assistance from machinery, and will work only by candlelight.
The aim is to create a ‘gift’ for future Liverpudlians, as the instruments are expected to last for up to 400 years.
Volunteers will be filmed throughout the construction process for a DVD documentary produced on the quartet’s completion – likely to be aired in two years’ time.
The timing of the documentary however depends on when Michael Phoenix, a violin expert that came up with the Scouservarius Project concept, receives funding from external sources.
Violin maker Phoenix told JMU Journalism: “The whole point of the project in my opinion is to show that when a lot of people do something small, something great can come from it.”
Nobody is excluded from volunteering, and Michael insists that there are jobs for all communities, including the disabled, the deaf and blind.
Once the instruments have been constructed, they will be hired out for use in performances, recording and exhibition worldwide.
Michael is hoping that Sir Paul McCartney will be interested in writing for the documentary.
Funds raised from the instruments will be used to support musical education projects across Merseyside.