The Canada Council’s recent competition to loan rare string instruments to young musicians is a quintessential Canadian exercise. “All of these musicians had international careers by the time they were in their teens. They are already playing with great symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles, and already recording classical CDs. These lovely instruments are, for the three years of their tenure, going to further their careers, giving them richer sounds and greater delicacy of tone and enabling them to impress even more audiences and producers.”