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Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
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Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
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Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
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Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
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Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
HONORED STUDENTS
RECIPIENTS OF THE DANIEL PEARL MEMORIAL VIOLIN:
2008
Ian Stewart, Texas; Sam Weiser, Connecticut
2007
Rudy Jane Smith, Texas; Mike Barnett, Tennessee
2006
John and James Abrams, Ontario, Canada;Phoebe Hunt, Texas
2005
Samantha Robichaud, New Brunswick, Canada; Alex Hargreaves, Oregon
2004
Kailin Young, Colorado
2003 Jeremy Kittel, Michigan
MORE INFORMATION
PORTLAND — Jonathan Cooper saw the image on television and felt immediate kinship with the lanky fiddle player.
The photo was of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in early 2002. But beyond the tragic details – that Pearl had left behind a loving family and a pregnant wife – Cooper knew nothing about the man.
And then he saw a photo that showed Pearl standing with other musicians, a fiddle in hand. And Cooper, a violin maker from Maine, just knew.
"I recognized the whole setting instantly, and it made the whole thing much more personal to me," Cooper said. "Something inside of me just clicked, and made me feel that maybe this was the chance to do something to counter all the chaos."
And so Cooper made a violin in Pearl's memory – a beautiful thing, hand-carved to highlight the fine grain of the wood and the instrument's innate, delicate curves.
His original idea was to make a violin for Pearl's son in memory of the father he would know only by photos like the one Cooper saw that night on the TV news. As the idea evolved, Cooper decided to make an instrument that his friend, noted fiddle player Mark O'Connor, would play at a Pearl memorial concert and then donate to the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which promotes music as a means for cultural understanding and tolerance.
That idea had merit, but after conferring with O'Connor, Cooper agreed instead to award the violin annually to a worthy student musician at O'Connor's summer fiddle camp. The holder of the instrument becomes an ambassador of sorts, spreading the story about Pearl and the prize violin made in Maine, whose sole purpose is to preserve Pearl's legacy through a musical mission of peace.
Eventually, Cooper made another version of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin. Both are awarded at O'Connor's summer camp. To date, 11 students have received one of the violins since Cooper made the first in 2003. Current holders are Ian Stewart of Texas and Sam Weiser of Connecticut.
"I'm glad the idea was successful, but I am just really thrilled to see these young people out playing, because they're young, they're great players and I know it's going to have a big effect on them and the way they develop musically and the way they think and their world view. To be a tiny part of that is a thrilling thing," Cooper said.
Pearl's mother, Ruth, said Cooper's instruments far exceeded her family's expectations, both in terms of the instruments themselves and the creative spirit they encourage.
"We expected it to be something minor," Ruth Pearl said by phone from California. "But look what it has become. Those students are ambassadors of the spirit of the foundation, of Danny and of the freedom of America."
She said her son would be happy that a pair of violins, made specifically in his honor, are among the lasting physical representations of his ideals. "Wherever Danny traveled, he had the instrument on his shoulder," Pearl's mother said.
In an e-mail, Weiser, 15, said he feels connected to Pearl when he plays the instrument, and thinks that he is making a difference. Besides that, he loves the way the violin sounds.
"The violin has a bright, lively sound quality, which is great when I play alternative styles," he said. "For such a young instrument, it has a very developed sound. Maybe it's the many recipients who've played it before me, or maybe it's just a great violin."
This spring, Weiser plans to record a CD with the violin, and has earmarked sales revenue to benefit the Daniel Pearl Foundation and O'Connor's fiddle camp, among other charities. Weiser's mom, Tami, said Pearl's inspiration prompted her son to make the CD.
"Daniel Pearl must have been a pretty terrific person to have engendered so much love long after his unfortunate and untimely demise rooted in the...
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