This collaboration between the world-famous shoulder rest company and Luxitune is one of the ways KUN is celebrating its major milestone

The Violin Channel, in conjunction with KUN and Luxitune, is this week giving away five exclusive KUN 50th Anniversary Luxitune fine tuners for violin or viola.

The KUN Shoulder Rest company was founded in Ottawa, Canada, 50 years ago by Joseph Kun. Immigrating from Czechoslovakia, he developed the brand with his wife, Marina, that is now a reference for string players around the world.

The landmark is being celebrated all year, culminating with an anniversary concert that will take place in Ottawa on July 30, 2022.

"We have admired Luxitune's work in turning a functional item into a thing of beauty for some time," Aran O' Grady, KUN's Marketing Officer, told The Violin Channel. "Last year we collaborated on a giveaway which featured pieces from the Solitaire selection by Luxitune, and our limited-edition Style Icon series shoulder rests."

"We wanted to do something special for our 50th anniversary so it made perfect sense to commission HyeJun Parker to create a bespoke violin tuner for us."

"First HyeJun drafted a few different design and material options before we decided on the classic KUN in gold against a black background, to emulate our Original shoulder rest base."

"This stunning piece is crafted using a standard Wittner tuner soldered to a brass casting that incorporates the Kun logo. The piece is plated with 14k gold and filled with black enamel to make 'KUN' pop!"

While these tuners are not currently available to purchase, each has a value of about $200.

The tuner is available for a loop-end string only and is also suitable for viola.

"We are so excited to be a part of Kun's 50th anniversary celebration," said HyeJun Park, founder of Luxitune. "It is an honor to collaborate with them in celebrating this milestone by creating a custom Violin tuner made specifically for the occasion."

Luxitune was born in 2012 out of a collaboration between jewelry maker HyeJun Park and violinist Katherine Fong. Since then, HyeJun Park has been creating various designs using gold and Swarowski crystals among other materials, to ornate string players' instruments.

Entries close on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

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