Acclaimed violinist Frank Almond will return to Bend on Feb. 14 along with his 1715 Lipiński Stradivarius for a performance in the High Desert Chamber Music Concert Series, now in its 17th season.

The 7:30 p.m. Valentine’s Day performance at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (61980 Skyline Ranch Road, Bend) features works inspired by love and romance.

Almond served at concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for 25 years and has earned accolades internationally, including prizes at the Nicolo Paganini Competition in Italy and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He currently serves on the faculty of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Almond’s Lipiński Stradivarius is a famous instrument with ties to composers such as Giuseppe Tartini, Edvard Grieg, and Johannes Brahms. The violin also gained media attention in 2014 due to a highly publicized theft, an ordeal Almond describes as “incredibly painful and very unusual.”

300-year-old Stradivarius violin visits Bend

Isabelle Senger, executive director of HDCM, will join Almond, and together they’ll revisit Moritz Moszkowski’s Suite for Two Violins and Piano, which they performed together when Almond visited Bend in November 2015.

Tickets are $58, $15 for children and students, and are available at highdesertchambermusic.com and at 541-306-3988 or in person at the HDCM office, 961 NW Brooks St., in downtown Bend.