Stradivarius

　

 The name of this violin is taken from the ownership by William Huggins (1824-1910), a well-known English astronomer in the 1880s. Since 1997, this violin has been slated to the first-prize winner of The Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium for four years until the next competition takes place. The winner of the 1997 Competition was Nikolaj Znaider of Denmark. The violin is now in the hands of Baiba Skride, the winner of the 2001 Competition.