AE Smith's historic string instruments celebrated in one-off event with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra

Pip Thompson may be a professional violinist ... but admits playing a piece of "Australia's musical history" still takes some getting used to. “I always say my own instrument's a bit of a bruiser; it's quite large but this one's a bit more delicate but it's quite nice to play. But I'm still working on learning to drive it properly!” The labour of love has been similarly embraced by three other members of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, who are "waking up" the so-called "Smith quartet". Two violins, a viola, and a cello made by Arthur Edward Smith in the 1940s and 1950s and held in the National Museum of Australia's Historical Collection since 1978. “It is unbelievably special. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I would have to say!” Known as the 'father of Australian violin makers', the British-born, self-taught luthier handcrafted around 2-hundred-and-50 string instruments between 1899 and 1970. But these instruments from the 1940s and 50s -- considered his golden period --are particularly prized and preserved. “We store the Smith quartet in a special environmentally-controlled space.” “And we make sure that they're assessed regularly, to identify any issued that might arise.” Smith's daughter, Ruth, assembled the quartet with her husband. Ernest Llewellyn - the founding director of the Canberra School of Music. Making the Museum's collaboration with the CSO a natural choice. “There's a consensus within the musical instrument world, that stringed instruments really need to be consistently played to maintain their richness and their resonance.” “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to reframe musical instruments and place them in that umbrella of 'functional objects' again” The National Museum of Australia hosts the special performance on October the 9th.