For the first time in its five-year history, the circle of Guarneri del Gesù owners and players appeared in public, presenting 26 historic violins in a single charity concert at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad.
A private circle opens to the public
On 26 July 2026, the St. Mauritius Church in Saanen, Switzerland, hosted a notable evening for violinists, collectors and classical-music lovers. David Garrett, the German crossover violinist, presented the first public concert of his Del Gesù Club as part of the 70th Menuhin Festival Gstaad.
Until now, the club’s gatherings had been private. “The past club meetings were private,” Garrett told local reporters, explaining that festival director Daniel Hope had encouraged him to present the concept to a wider audience in Saanen. The concert, titled Masters of Sound – A Charity Concert hosted by David Garrett & The Del Gesù Club, marked the first time the circle’s instruments were showcased together in a public performance.
For readers who know Garrett mainly from his crossover albums and collaborations with artists such as Hauser, this event underlined his long-standing engagement with historic instruments and their preservation. crossover violinists and their stage presence
What the Del Gesù Club is
The Del Gesù Club is a small, invitation-only circle founded by Garrett around 2021. It brings together owners and players of violins made by Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri, known as “del Gesù” (1698–1744), alongside a few instruments by other master makers.
Guarneri del Gesù, working in Cremona in the first half of the 18th century, is widely regarded as one of the greatest violin makers in history, alongside Antonio Stradivari. His instruments are prized for their powerful, dark tone and are played by many leading soloists. The club meets roughly once a year in different locations, allowing members to compare instruments, share research and hear from experts. Before Gstaad, these meetings had taken place behind closed doors.
Twenty-six instruments in one concert
According to reports from the event, 26 instruments were displayed and played during the evening. The majority were Guarneri del Gesù violins, joined by several Stradivari instruments and at least one violin by Carlo Bergonzi, another renowned Cremonese maker.
Garrett opened the programme on a Guarneri del Gesù known as the “Baltic”, dated 1734. He noted that this instrument had previously sold at a New York auction for around ten million US dollars, illustrating the extraordinary financial value involved. Throughout the concert, he introduced each instrument, its history and its current player before short musical excerpts demonstrated their individual voices.
The repertoire reflected Garrett’s own artistic range. Alongside core classical works, the programme included George Gershwin’s Summertime from Porgy and Bess, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Melodie from Orpheus and Eurydike, Ennio Morricone’s Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso and Robert Schumann’s Träumerei. This mix underlined the event’s aim: to let these historic instruments speak in different musical languages, not only in standard concerto repertoire.
Musicians, instruments and personal moments
Among the performers was 20-year-old Italian violinist Andrea Cicalese, described in local coverage as the youngest Del Gesù player of the evening. Since 2023, Cicalese has performed on the 1731 Guarneri del Gesù “Marchesa Guasco”, which he plays on loan through the “Adopt a Musician” initiative of Music Masterpieces SA in Lugano. He also appeared on another Guarneri, the “Maggio”, selected for him by Garrett.
In an interview after the concert, Cicalese emphasised the educational value of the club’s meetings, where players, dealers, collectors, luthiers and experts gather. “It’s enormously educational and interesting,” he said. “The wonderful thing is that the whole violin scene comes together.” He added that performing so many Del Gesù instruments in a single concert felt like a historically significant experience.
The evening also included more personal moments. Garrett performed a duet with his father, Georg Bongartz, a violin expert and auctioneer who is not known as a concert soloist. He also played with Daniel Hope, the festival’s artistic director and himself an owner of a Guarneri del Gesù violin. These collaborations gave the programme a familial tone that matched the festival’s 2026 theme, Family Matters.
For readers curious about how violin culture is evolving online and in new formats, events like this sit alongside projects such as TwoSetViolin’s approach to violin performance and audience.
Charity, education and what comes next
The concert was explicitly presented as a charity event. According to the festival’s press materials, proceeds from ticket sales were donated to the Menuhin Festival String Academy, which offers selected young musicians masterclasses, individual tuition and chamber music opportunities.
To make the event more accessible to younger audiences, the festival offered a limited number of U25 tickets at a reduced price of CHF 30, available with proof of age via email. This measure underlined the organisers’ intention to connect the next generation with both high-level performance and the culture of historic instruments.
Looking ahead, the Del Gesù Club is expected to continue its annual meetings in various locations, bringing together owners, players and experts. Whether future gatherings will include public concerts has not been confirmed. The 2026 Menuhin Festival Gstaad runs until 5 September, featuring more than 60 concerts under Daniel Hope’s artistic direction.
For now, the Saanen performance stands as a clear milestone: the moment when Garrett’s private circle of exceptional violins was presented to a public audience, with proceeds supporting young musicians’ training.
For a very different perspective on how instruments intersect with politics and policy, you can read our coverage of Trump’s proposed tariffs on brass instruments and their impact on school bands.
