The violin evolved from the Renaissance "fiddle" around 1500, and unlike most of its early contemporaries that fell by the wayside (such as shawms, rackets, dulzians, harpsichords, lutes, viols, etc.), the violin remains virtually unchanged, and a number of examples made in the mid-sixteenth century are still being played. The violin's unparalleled success is due not only to its outstanding acoustical properties, but also to its physical beauty. A number of great violin makers such as Stradivari and Guarneri experimented with its size, shape, and arching, but only violin experts can discern the subtle changes they introduced. In the nineteenth century, violin makers and physicists attempted to break free of this staid tradition and experimented with unusually shaped violins. Although these instruments performed well in blind tests, they did not gain acceptance because of their appearance. It is clear that in the craft of violin making, tradition has trumped innovation, and that violin makers must follow a narrow path established five-hundred years ago.

Stephanie Chase is a violinist who has performed as soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. She is also Artistic Director and co-founder of the Music of the Spheres Society, which is dedicated to exploring the links between music, philosophy and the sciences, and teaches violin at New York University's Steinhardt School. In her spare time, she writes music arrangements and studies Stradivari violins and the "music of the spheres."

Stewart Pollens worked as the chief conservator of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1976 and 2006, where his duties included the general maintenance of the museum's encyclopedic collection of over 5000 instruments as well as the preparation of instruments for display in the permanent galleries, special exhibitions, loan, and use in concerts and recordings. In 2006, Mr. Pollens retired from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is presently working as an independent consultant and private conservator. Trained as a harpsichord, organ, and violin maker, Mr. Pollens is the author of over fifty scholarly articles and four books, including The Violin Forms of Antonio Stradivari and The Early Pianoforte. In 1997, he was the recipient of the American Musical Instrument Society's Nicholas Bessaraboff Prize for the Early Pianoforte, a study of the invention and early history of the pianoforte. He is presently completing a book on Antonio Stradivari. Stewart Pollens is a contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and writes frequently for The Strad. In 2002, Mr. Pollens was featured playing the world's oldest surviving piano, the Cristofori piano of 1720, on WNET (National Educational Television).