00:06The music is familiar, but the violin is a mystery.
00:10My first impression was that it was done by an amateur.
00:15But when you look at it more and more, you see a lot of fine detail which says that no,
00:19it's not an amateur.
00:20It's actually somebody who really knows what they're doing.
00:22Music for Canberra discovered a complete stranger, Mitch Powell from Broken Hill,
00:27had left them a violin in his will.
00:30It's a beautiful instrument. It's provenance we don't completely understand.
00:35Michael Hargraves is a luthier. He's been restoring it from scroll to endpin,
00:40including specially sourced horsehair from Siberia and Mongolia.
00:45The violin may have been modelled off another luthier in the family that apprenticed Stradivari, the famous violin maker.
00:52But when he found a label reading Contreras, 1752, he was sceptical.
00:58Labels often lie, so you'd never trust a label.
01:02If there was evidence that it was actually from Contreras in Spain in 1752,
01:09then that would just be a bit of a shot in the arm.
01:13But confirming it needs extensive and expensive forensic analysis.
01:17There's dendrochronology which maps the growth rings in the wood
01:21so that they can determine which forest it came from
01:24and what year the tree was cut.
01:27The restored violin will be played centre stage
01:29for the 60th anniversary of the Canberra Youth Orchestra next year
01:33and for many years to come.
01:36A mystery playing second fiddle to the music.
01:39Music for Canberra Youth Orchestra
01:44Music for Canberra Nem and Victoria
01:45Music for Canberra Youth Fighting
01:45Music for Canberra Youth Ching
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