When a university purchases advanced scientific equipment, the transaction goes unnoticed. After all, every major research institution must have top-of-the-line instruments for its chemists, engineers, marine biologists and others. But, when a decision is made to spend more than a quarter of a million dollars on a 200-year-old violin, people pause and take notice. Last summer, the University of Delaware demonstrated--with the acquisition of a violin by master Italian maker G.B. Ceruti--its commitment to excellence in the arts.

Xiang Gao, 30, an assistant professor of music at UD and an internationally recognized soloist, is the main beneficiary of the University's acquisition, since he performs on the instrument believed to have been made between 1787 and 1810. Gao auditioned 35 instruments before recommending purchase of the Ceruti. He says the high notes of most violins project easily throughout concert halls, but the lower tones are not heard as well and are usually a problem.

"The sound of this instrument is beautiful," Gao says, "especially in the lower register. As a soloist, it's important for the instrument to carry its sound in modern concert halls, and you need to project to the top of the balcony." Gao describes the Ceruti as "not only a player's violin but also a collector's one."

According to University Provost Dan Rich, "The University is committed to providing our faculty with the equipment and facilities they need to continue to excel. This commitment is as important to fulfill in the arts as it is in the sciences.

Having the right tools is essential to the success of faculty in all fields.

"The availability of fine instruments for the faculty in music is as important as well-equipped and up-to-date laboratories for the faculty in the sciences. However, unlike specialized scientific instruments such as chromatographs and spectrometers, the history of fine violins is that they appreciate in value over time and with use by outstanding musicians. Confirmation of this is the fact that the purchase agreement includes a favorable repurchase clause," Rich says. The Ceruti was purchased from Chicago's Bein & Fushi Inc., one of the world's premier violin dealers and restorers.

Gao's reaction when he discovered the Ceruti would be available for his use was not surprising. "When I learned of the University's willingness to become a violin owner, I called everyone," he says, smiling. "It was hard to sleep because it was a dream come true. I had the passion, the technique, the training and the experience, but I still needed the voice."

The Ceruti has become Gao's voice.

Gao says there is something "extraordinary" about performing on an artwork that was made at the same time that many of the world's musical masterpieces were composed. He says the violin, first played hundreds of years ago, speaks to him of the "human spirit, the touch of history."

"I also enjoy the connection between the 18th and 19th Centuries," Gao says, "when Classical music was the number one form of entertainment in the world and an incredible art form.

"I think the University is happy with this instrument," Gao says. "Its acquisition shows the audience, the faculty and students that we at the University of Delaware have much passion for music and the arts."

The story of the University of Delaware's Ceruti violin begins two centuries ago in Cremona, Italy--an artistic and cultural center recognized for its important role in the creation of string instruments, which attained perfection during the height of the Baroque era, when the world became well-acquainted with the names of master creators such as Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari.

In the late 18th Century, it was Giovanni Battista Ceruti who pioneered a new style of Cremonese violin-making by refining and renewing the spirit of the Old Masters. Ceruti was an accomplished artist, and his work reflected a thorough knowledge of fine violin-making, both in aesthetics and in tone.

In the early 19th Century, instruments made by Ceruti were the choice of both amateur and professional players in Cremona's theatre, making him the most popular maker in the city.

A Ceruti instrument was sought for its fine tonal qualities and such distinctive traits as round holes that were more freely cut and varied in degree, finely sculpted scrolls that personified a Stradivarian style and a reputation for individuality, power and spontaneity.

Giovanni Battista Ceruti created what is now the University of Delaware violin in about 1810, at the height of his distinguished career. It was a heady time in the world of music: The works of Baroque composers Corelli, J. S. Bach, Haydn and Vivaldi were entertaining audiences, and the works of the Classical composers such as Beethoven, Paganini and Mozart were just being introduced.

No one knows who first played UD's Ceruti, but like all fine Italian violins, the instrument traveled throughout Europe, and was taken onto the concert stages of the world's major cultural centers--most assuredly in Paris, London, Moscow, Vienna, Salzburg, Venice and Rome.

As time passed, the Ceruti violin met new composers and voiced new works, passing through historic periods of musical time, from the Classical to the Romantic eras and moving into the contemporary period of the 20th Century.

As a partner to its talented performers, the Ceruti has given voice to the dots and stems the world's greatest composers have sketched on the musical staff.

In the early 21st Century, after centuries of travel, the Ceruti arrived at the Chicago office of Bein & Fushi, a firm that caters to those with an interest in the finest pieces created by Old World masters. Bein & Fushi's international clientele includes such distinguished artists as Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, Nigel Kennedy and Anne-Sophie Mutter.