Virtu Foundation

Our mission is simple, to provide high quality violins, violas and cellos to advanced students and pre-professionals whose future careers would benefit from having access to a better instrument. We serve as a conduit, connecting instrument donors to talented artists across the country. When Curtis Peterson, the president of The Virtu Foundation and an enthusiastic amateur cellist, replaced his long-held student cello with a better one, he discovered the shockingly high cost of string instruments. How, he asked, do young musicians balance funding their musical education with the soaring cost of instruments? What he found was that many talented young musicians were playing on instruments that severely limited their growth. The cost of instruments was often the problem. The not-for-profit, tax qualified, Virtu Foundation was formed in 1998 to act as a conduit between patrons, donors and deserving musicians. The Foundation accepts financial contributions, donations of and loans of stringed instruments and places the instruments with musicians whose careers or education in music would benefit from gaining access to an instrument that they cannot afford. The Foundation loans instruments to young musicians on Scholarships. Virtu’s goal is to provide, bridge-like, instruments of a quality that allow the musician to move to the next level of skill. When Scholarship loans have served their purpose and expire, instruments are again placed with a new musician. A Foundation instrument continuously recirculates to fine young musicians and beneficially casts a long shadow. Since it’s founding, the Charlottesville, Virginia based Virtu Foundation’s Patrons have assisted over 135 young musicians in their careers as well as several youth string music programs. The Foundation currently manages a portfolio of instruments valued at $1,250,000.