Website Honored by Top Design Award
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Website Honored by Top Design Award
Violinmasterclass.com, the unstoppable online revolution of violin teaching, has just been awarded another top honor of Best Music Site by BTDesign Awards for its outstanding graphic design and contribution to the advancement of arts & culture in new media. Created by renowned violin pedagogue Kurt Sassmannshaus in 2001 and selected by Strad Magazine as Website of the Month in April 2006, www.violinmasterclass.com has developed a vast internet community, connecting every violin student, educator, aficionado and industry insider from Germany to China.
— Violinmasterclass.com, the unstoppable online revolution of violin teaching, has just been awarded another top honor of Best Music Site by BTDesign Awards for its outstanding graphic design and contribution to the advancement of arts & culture in new media. Created by renowned violin pedagogue Kurt Sassmannshaus in 2001 and selected by Strad Magazine as Website of the Month in April 2006, www.violinmasterclass.com has developed a vast internet community, connecting every violin student, educator, aficionado and industry insider from Germany to China.
Dr. Nina Perlove, Executive Director of the Starling Project Foundation which was the force behind this successful website, offered, “we’re pleased that this award recognizes the exceptional work of our designers, who at every step of the way kept only one thing in mind – the need of our users. The team wants to make it not only a site of high design merit, but also of high educational merit, while keeping it user-friendly. Our success on this project has certainly been noted by our users, and now we’re excited to see the appreciation from the web design community.”
BTDesign Award Program is judged by international artists and given every month. The prizes are awarded based on quality of content, originality of graphic design and most importantly, the commitment to serve the public by the contending websites.
Since its inception more than four years ago, Violinmasterclass.com has stayed true to its mission. The website not only modernizes the concept of violin-learning by making the Sassmannshaus method available through free high-quality streaming videos, but also serves as the go-to-source for any violin-related information. The moderated forums, in particular, welcome discussions ranging from “how to choose your first violin” to “what is music.” Dr. Perlove observes the nurturing power of technology: “it’s amazing that we get emails every week from all over the world from those who feel that it [the website] makes a positive impact on their playing and teaching. We’re ahead of the curve in terms of music teaching. People are going to follow our model.” The website is now available in English and Chinese.
Called “the unrivalled king of the online violin tutorial” by Strad Magazine, Kurt Sassmannshaus will continue to dedicate himself to the future needs of the violin community, virtual and actual, local and global. This summer, he can be found at the Second Annual Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, China, a strings festival he founded in 2005. China Central Television (CCTV) will broadcast this special congregation of international talents to its national audience of an estimated 120 million.
Mr. Sassmannshaus is currently Chair of the String Department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.