Appreciation
Riverside Symphony, Alice Tully Hall, New York City: Left to right; Alissa Smith, Cenovia Cummins, Louise Owen, Kristina Musser, with their Yeats bows.
“Only the greatest bows bring out the best tones during performance. Throughout my career I’ve played Peccatte, Kittel, Maline, and Tourte, and Michael Yeats bows top them all.”
– Michael Foxman, Oregon Symphony Concertmaster Emeritus
“I recently bought a bow by the American bow maker Michael Yeats. I have been devoted to my Voilin for a quarter of a century, but was pleasantly surprised to discover new possibilities with this marvelous stick!”
– Erica Kiesewetter, violinist, educator and conductor.
“Michael Yeats is the planetary guru of repair. The work that he has done on my bow has been nothing short of miraculous”
– Gil Shaham
“Michael Yeats bows have been my constant companions for most of my career. They all exhibit superb handling, playability, carrying power and sound spin. His bows are the necessary tools that allow me to express myself at the highest level. Michael’s bows have an unmistakable musical quality that few living bow makers have achieved.”
– Cenovia Cummins, Concertmaster, New York Pops Orchestra, Riverside Symphony, and School of American Ballet Orchestra, Yeats Quartet
Gregory Ewer, violinist with the Oregon Symphony, describes the characteristics of his Yeats bow.
Video (1.06 min)
Video: Brendan Rawlins
Letter read by Cenovia Cummins at the first performance by the Yeats Quartet on October 3, 2016:
Michael Yeats, An Appreciation
by Cenovia Cummins
Michael is a wood whisperer. He’s also kind of a freak. He has the uncanny ability to tell you the sound profile and playing abilities of a bow without being a string player himself. Yep, that’s right, the guy has never ever drawn one of his bows across the string of a violin, viola or cello. I first met Michael at a dinner party in the early 1990s, but little did I know this man would have such a profound influence on my musical career and journey through life.
I started going to Michael for rehairs, or sometimes I’d stop by to chat or hang out. His shop was a fascinating collection of antiques, bow cases, curios and handmade tools. He had a passion for good wine and pernambuco wood. As my career advanced, I started to save some money to purchase a fine bow. At this point Michael was familiar with my playing and my instrument, and I told him to be on the lookout for a bow for me. One day I walked into the shop and he said, “I have a bow for you I think you will like. I found it at an estate sale, it’s in mint condition and it’s unusual in that Lamy left it octagonal. I think it will suit your playing and your violin.” He was totally right on. I grew in spades musically with that bow.
Over the next couple of years I observed that Michael had a gift for matching people to bows and an uncanny sense for knowing the qualities and characteristics of a bow, even though he couldn’t play it himself. I started bugging him, “Why don’t you make bows?” Michael was in such demand, he couldn’t carve out the time (pun intended) to make bows. So one day I put my money where my mouth was. I came in, handed him a check and said, “Make me a bow.” Well, he did, and that bow rocked, and so began Michael’s bow making career.
That first bow Michael made me got the name “Bambi” when I discovered one day in rehearsal (while counting rests and admiring my new Yeats bow) that inexplicabily, the face of Bambi was staring back at me from the pearl eye in the frog of the bow. I couldn’t wait to show Michael, who practically fell off of his work chair when I showed it to him. “holy cow!” he said, “If I had shaved one more layer off of the pearl, it wouldn’t be there!” It’s protected now with a little bit of clear nail polish so it won’t wear off anytime soon. That bow got me through so many auditions, performances and concerts. I couldn’t believe how the bow felt like it was custom-made for my hand. I truly felt invincible with it. It made playing the violin so much more fluid. The bow seemed to read my mind and be ready for the next musical passage before I was even aware of it.
Much to my joy, Michael and I continue to have an ongoing bow dialogue/relationship. Because he now lives in Europe, he sends me bows a few times a year to distribute and find homes for them. I cannot tell you the excitement I feel when the bows arrive in the mail. Bows are like people, as no two are alike, but a great bow maker will exhibit a signature or a DNA, much like how you can recognize a Van Gogh or a particular period of Picasso.
I always say Michael’s bows have your back because you can count on them to turn on a dime, spin a beautiful phrase, bounce and do spicatto without having to even think about how. It’s just automatic, like an extension of your hand. It eliminates the mind-chatter that can get in the way when one is under the pressure of performing. My friend Junah Chung summed it up in a hilarious text message he sent me one night about his new Yeats bow. “Cenovia, the bow just plays! You put it on the string and it just goes from frog to tip beautifully…not some F’d up journey!”
I’ve often said the bow is equally, if not more important, as the instrument itself. The bow transmits the player’s musical intentions to the instrument, and the instrument amplifies the result. The bow is a crucial link between the musician’s soul and instrument. When you get the right bow to mate with your instrument, it is pure joy and freedom of expression.
It’s not often a living bow maker gets a quartet named after them. Most bow makers never enjoyed their fame or accolades in their lifetime. Michael’s creations have influenced many fine musicians throughout the world and have been heard on many of the most famous concert stages in the world. My colleagues and I are so excited to have an opportunity to present this concert with a quartet of Yeats bows. Thank you Michael, and thanks to everyone here tonight to help us celebrate this fine artist.
More about the Yeats Quartet
Cenovia Cummins, violinist, Louise Owen, violinist, Lisa Suslowicz, violist, Hanna Holman, cellist.
The quartet owns 10 Yeats bows, and each bow has a nickname.