Stolen Violin Emergency Fund

Hello, my name is Justin Curry, and I am violinist who has played professionally for over 14 years.

This past October my violin was tragically stolen from me in Los Angeles.

Not only has this situation completely emotionally drained me as I have lost both my musical partner and a part of me, but it has also led to the complete ruin of my finances.

I had recently moved from New Orleans to Los Angeles mid September which in itself was a source of financial strain, but the theft of my violin cost me nearly $2000 of performances/private events just the weekend it was stolen. Since then I was able to pick up an extremely cheap violin as an emergency instrument, but the quality is at a point where it's not only a struggle to play but I cannot do acoustic performances.

Also due to the financial strain I had to use what little money I had left over including the savings being put together for a full apartment (currently living out of a Airbnb) just to keep from going under.

Currently the situation is rather grim... The loss of shows, the lack of a proper violin and a nightly rate Airbnb has led to a situation where I am barely making by and currently living day to day... At the time of writing this I myself have not been able to have a full meal in almost 2 days due to just trying to keep myself housed. 

In short this is a nightmare situation where the precipice of complete tragedy is at hand.  I am need of assistance, I have to admit my own pride is what kept me from asking for help in the beginning, I felt as if that the only proper way forward was to earn it without asking for help. As the series of unfortunate events have continued to spiral however it is more than abundantly clear that I need to fully accept the situation at hand.

 Now however there is nothing to do but to push that aside and ask for assistance from the very people that have loved my music for years.

 Right now I am at a complete loss of what to do, this has been the hardest month in my entire life by far. I feel like the basis of what I am, the very fabric of what makes me who I am has been ripped away.  The powerlessness that I feel is humbling, it also shows me how easy it is to fall from what was supposed to be a very big move in my life to the entire situation going completely wrong.

To get to a place of stability I will need at a minimum around $4,500. The first $3,000 can be broken down that's about $1,600 for the violin,$200 each for four bows, and about $500 for a proper, hard locking case.

 I originally had found an instrument from a certain person for payments. Unfortunately they have taken advantage of my situation and increased the price after I had already put down a deposit while also charging things originally promised for a reduced price or free due to my situation. To avoid this from happening again I feel the best solution is to have the instrument paid off at once with no strings attached (no pun intended). 

The additional $1500 is to not only stabilize my current situation but to also give me time to do more proper booking for shows. This will pay more than my current gig of busking to make the day to day. This would give me about 2 weeks of rent plus the ability to fully feed myself. 

This all seems expensive for me in my current situation but a fraction of the worth of the instrument that was stolen for me. Additionally another big help would be if you know a venue that's in need of violinist three regular shows a week would bring my heart and my wallet to ease. 

Below I will leave a link to my music and various interviews over the years, along with all my social media profiles. To everyone that has taken the time to read this I thank you for the bottom of my heart I cannot express just how intense the situation has been to me. Again thank you so much...

https://linktr.ee/Justincurryviolin