Courtesy of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Over
the past four decades, Benoit Rolland has made more than 1,400
bows for violins, violas and cellos. Over the past four decades,
Benoit Rolland has made more than 1,400 bows for violins, violas
and cellos. Courtesy of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation Among the 23 recipients of the MacArthur "genius"
grants this past week: an economist, a mathematician, a
photographer, a neuroscientist, and a Boston-based stringed
instrument bow maker. Benoit Rolland acknowledges that the
violin reigns supreme as the star of the strings, capable of
fetching millions of dollars at auction. But what about the bow?
"A violin with no bow is not a violin, that's clear," says
Rolland. "A lot of people, even some instrumentalists, in our
younger years we believe that the violin is of paramount
importance and the bow is just a tool," says Elita Kang,
assistant concert master of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. "But
the bow is just as important as the violin b