Valuable instruments and bows taken on consignment by Kolstein Music of New York have ‘simply disappeared’
A US double bass dealer is being sued by five separate instrument owners having been accused of selling $2m worth of instruments and bows on consignment and failing to pass on the profits, according to legal proceedings.
A lawsuit filed in the Brooklyn Federal Court alleges that Kolstein Music of Baldwin, Long Island, NY, and its owner Manny Alvarez took on consignment two double basses and 43 bows, estimated to be worth $1.5m, from the estate of Marvin Topolsky, a double bassist with the orchestra of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, who died in 2021. In another two separate suits, the dealership is alleged to have taken on consignment a Matteo Gofriller bass worth $255,000 on behalf of Yoshio Nagashima, and a bow and copy of a Testore bass belonging to Yoshio Aomori, worth $185,000. Both owners are Japanese citizens.
At Nassau County Supreme Court, NY, two further lawsuits were lodged for a missing £60,000 Nicolas Vuillame bass belonging to Massachusetts owner Andrew Wilson, and an $18,000 instrument from Prague belonging to Christopher Cook of Rhode Island.
Alvarez took over the business from original owner Barrie Kolstein in 2019. The agreement had included ‘transfer of certain inventory, responsibility for consignment of musical instruments and accessories’ as well as the lease of a building. However, Kolstein is now suing Alvarez for ‘unjust enrichment’ and ‘persistently, negligently, and in bad faith’ failing to ‘honour the obligations of these agreements’, according to yet another suit at Nassau County Supreme Court.
In October 2024 an eviction notice was filed against Kolstein Music, Inc by the Civil Court of the City of New York for rent arrears of $184,125 against its premises on West 58th Street, New York. In January 2025 another eviction notice was served by Orange County Florida Courts for the company’s premises in Winter Park, Florida.
Daniel Schiavetta of attorneys Murphy, Higgins & Schiavetta, representing the plaintiffs, said that the instruments and stock had ‘simply disappeared and Manny has not followed with inquiries’.
In June 2024 The Strad reported on a double bass belonging to Brian Fountain that had allegedly disappeared in similar circumstances.
Read: Missing: 18th-century Italian bass worth $150,000
Read: Stolen: fiddle, electric violin and bows in Toddington, UK
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