The day the music died: Long Island’s Kolstein’s Music cleared out of dozens of pricey bass violins

A Long Island violin shop that’s been open since the 1940s appears to have closed its doors for good — but the bitter business dispute between the founder’s family and current owner still has no coda in sight.

About three dozen bass violins, including a $250,000 Panormo bass violin, in the storeroom of Kolstein’s Music in Baldwin were loaded onto a truck last week by owner Manny Alvarez, according to court papers.

Alvarez, who has been accused of failing to pay out proceeds from consignment sales to instrument owners, has been locked in a legal battle over the business with Barrie Kolstein, whose father Samuel launched the store in 1943, according to court papers.

Kolstein ran the business himself for decades before handing the reins to Alvarez in 2019 — but alleges in his lawsuit that the instruments Alvarez took belonged to him.

“I worked my whole life in this shop. My father put his whole life into this shop, it’s internationally well-respected and in almost five and a half years the shop is no more,” Kolstein told The Post.

Alvarez worked at the store on an off since he was 15, when he first came in and saw a violin his family couldn’t afford, Kolstein said.

So the owner offered him a job.

“It’s just such a sad situation,” Kolstein, 75, said. “I didn’t want this for him. I didn’t want this for my shop. I didn’t want this for my clients. It’s heartbreaking.”

Along with the inventory, Kolstein retained ownership of the building and the store name, keeping a small office in the store while Alvarez ran the business, he said in court papers.

The two were embroiled in an ongoing legal dispute over their ownership agreement when Kolstein noticed something wrong with the store’s surveillance cameras Thursday. By Friday, the cameras were disconnected and an employee’s wife confirmed Alvarez took the instruments, along with Kolstein’s personal computer, file cabinet and items from his dad including handmade bows, according to the litigation.

Both sides are due in court June 9.

“I hope I can get my inventory back. That would be my wish,” Kolstein said. “What probably hurts me more than anything is to see the work of my father gone. I would love to see the business close with some dignity.”

“We will be addressing the matter in court,” a lawyer for Alvarez said.