A violin stolen over two years ago has finally made its way back to its owner! An instrument of immense sentimental value, the violin was the last gift Petrus de Beer received from his mother before she passed away.
Cape Town, South Africa (07 October 2024) — A violin has finally made its way home after over two years spent missing from its original owner, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal first violin, Petrus de Beer.
Stolen in July 2022 from the boot of Petrus’ car in Cape Town, the moment the violin was discovered to be gone, a gaping hole formed in the violinist’s heart.
Not simply a case of missing a musical instrument, this violin held immense sentimental value for Petrus. After all, it was the very last gift he had received from his mother before she passed away.
Despite a determined search for his beloved violin that took matters to both the police and the media, the violin would become a missing case for two more winters.
Unbeknownst to Petrus, the violin had embarked on a journey of its own. As the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra shares, the violin had ended up as an item for sale at a local flea market all those months ago, which is how it found its way to the people who’d eventually spur the reunion—Wally and Beatrice van Staden.
One day, as the pair was cleaning out their belongings in preparation for a move, the van Staden’s decided to Google the value of the violin. Unexpectedly, this took them down a rabbit hole that would eventually lead to Petrus!
Last month, on 8 September, Petrus got to relish in the moment that at one point seemed impossible—reuniting with his violin. In an extra sprinkle of serendipity, this reunion just so happened to be on the anniversary of his mother’s death 13 years before.
Immersed with the kind of joy that only a happy ending can fill one with, Petrus decided to pay the experience forward. He has since donated another violin of sentimental value (the violin that started his career) to the Youth Orchestra’s student Corban Beukes, a budding 16-year-old musician from Brackenfell who got to play his new violin for the first time over the weekend!
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