Jeffrey Epstein, a uncommon cello and a permanent thriller

Written by James B. Stewart

When Jeffrey Epstein died in jail in 2019, he took many secrets and techniques with him. One was how a sexual predator and school dropout managed to forge bonds with an astonishing variety of the world’s richest and strongest males, like Britain’s Prince Andrew and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

Another was why Epstein owned a uncommon Italian cello. It was the one nonfinancial asset listed on his basis’s annual tax kinds, described merely as “cello” and carried on the books at a worth of $165,676.

Epstein had by no means performed the cello or proven any curiosity in musical devices as an funding.

The first thriller is giant, and it’s nonetheless being untangled by attorneys, victims and journalists. The second is seemingly small, contained to the rarefied world of fantastic string devices. But the 2 mysteries are related. And the cello’s unusual journey into and out of Epstein’s possession provides a window into the infamous felony’s life and legacy.

Epstein’s Manhattan mansion was crammed with curiosities. There was a portrait of Bill Clinton in a blue gown, a stuffed giraffe, prosthetic breasts within the grasp lavatory.

But greater than objects, Epstein collected folks. Over the years he cultivated leaders within the fields of enterprise, finance, politics, science, arithmetic, academia, music, even yoga. He typically cemented the relationships with introductions to others in his orbit, donations to causes they supported or different presents and favors.

That is the place the cello got here in.

False Claims and Accordion Lessons

As a toddler rising up in Brooklyn, Epstein and his youthful brother, Mark, confirmed a flair for music. Both started classes on the saxophone, then switched to tougher double-reed devices. Jeffrey performed the bassoon, Mark the oboe, each in excessive demand in orchestras and different ensembles. It was as a bassoonist that Jeffrey earned a scholarship in 1967 to Interlochen, the distinguished summer season music camp nestled within the woods of northern Michigan. When his mom visited him that summer season, he requested her to carry bagels.

As an grownup, Jeffrey Epstein falsely claimed to have had a budding profession as a live performance pianist. And he claimed to have begun piano classes at age 5, which Mark Epstein stated in an interview was not true. (He took classes on the accordion as a younger boy.) Epstein later took piano classes, however he by no means achieved greater than a high-school stage of proficiency.

It was the cello that turned a recurring motif in Epstein’s self-told life story, beginning after he and a buddy backpacked in Europe within the early Seventies. Among the tales Epstein later recounted was taking part in the piano for Jacqueline du Pré, the British cello virtuoso. In Epstein’s telling, he met du Pré in 1971 whereas visiting London. Du Pré loved the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II, and it was by way of the cellist that Epstein stated he’d gained entry to members of the British royal household, forging an particularly shut friendship with Prince Andrew.

The story was not solely implausible. Du Pré, who died in 1987, was nonetheless performing on the time Epstein visited London, the place he purchased a full-length fur coat that he wore for years afterward. But du Pré hardly wanted Epstein as an accompanist, since, among the many world’s numerous different skilled musicians, she was married to celebrated pianist Daniel Barenboim.

At Interlochen, to which Epstein turned a major donor and common customer, he met and befriended a 14-year-old cellist, Melissa Solomon, in 1997. According to her account in a 2019 podcast, he insisted she apply to Juilliard and agreed to pay her tuition there. She stated he by no means tried to have intercourse along with her (he did get her to therapeutic massage his ft), however after she declined to attend a celebration with Prince Andrew, Epstein minimize ties and stopped paying her tuition.

Another Interlochen pupil, recognized solely as Jane, testified within the latest trial of Epstein’s closest affiliate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Jane stated that Epstein and Maxwell started grooming her when she was a 13-year-old pupil on the camp and that Epstein subsequently raped her, all whereas promising to advance her profession.

Thanksgiving on the Ranch

In the mid-Nineties, Epstein confirmed up backstage on the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, after a efficiency by cellist William DeRosa, a younger prodigy who’d made his live performance debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 11. By the time Epstein noticed him, DeRosa was thought to be one of many world’s finest cellists, acting at Carnegie Hall, on tv and with main symphony orchestras.

Epstein’s and DeRosa’s paths didn’t cross once more till round 2004, when DeRosa started relationship a blond mannequin named Kersti Ferguson.

Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Ferguson stated in an interview that she met Epstein by way of a mutual buddy when she was 18. Ferguson and Epstein frolicked at his Palm Beach property, the place she met Maxwell. Epstein invited Ferguson to his Virgin Islands property whereas she was in school, and after she broke up with a boyfriend, Epstein flew her and her mom to his New Mexico ranch for Thanksgiving. He generally known as her 4 occasions a day. He confirmed her photographs of himself with what he stated have been his highly effective pals, amongst them former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

After she started relationship DeRosa, Epstein insisted on checking him out. “Be nice,” DeRosa recalled Epstein warning him. He appeared fascinated by DeRosa’s musical abilities. He as soon as advised they play collectively, however DeRosa brushed him off. He stated he had by no means heard Epstein play the piano.

In 2006, Epstein was arrested in Florida after investigators discovered proof that he’d been sexually concerned with ladies. Ferguson stated Epstein by no means advised having intercourse along with her or requested her to recruit different younger ladies. On the opposite, when Ferguson tried to hug him, he’d “shrivel up,” she stated, as if afraid of catching a illness. And she thought he and Maxwell have been in love, although Epstein confided in Ferguson that he had no intention of marrying.

Rich and Powerful

For a time after his arrest, Ferguson didn’t hear from him. Epstein pleaded responsible to soliciting an underage prostitute and was sentenced to 13 months in jail, although he was allowed to serve a lot of that point at residence.

Then, in 2010, as Epstein was attempting to reconstitute his orbit of the wealthy and highly effective, he known as her. “I need to buy a cello,” Epstein stated abruptly, asking if she would enlist DeRosa within the search. When Epstein subsequent spoke to DeRosa, he defined that he was shopping for a cello for a younger Israeli cellist. “Go find one,” he ordered, then hung up.

Soon after, DeRosa was visiting his mom in Los Angeles when he realized of a cello being offered there by a musician who recorded soundtracks for Hollywood studios. (Before that, the cello had been performed by a member of the Indianapolis symphony orchestra.)

While not a Stradivarius or a Montagnana, this cello had a distinguished pedigree, and was manufactured by Ettore Soffritti, who labored within the string instrument heart of Ferrara, Italy, from the late 1800s till his loss of life in 1928. Benning Violins, the Los Angeles seller, described the cello’s sound as “rich and powerful” and stated the instrument was “suitable for the finest of cellists.”

DeRosa tried the cello. He was smitten. He stated he thought of it “one of the greatest modern cellos in existence.” (By “modern” he meant any produced after the Italian Renaissance.) With an asking worth of $185,000, he additionally thought of it a discount.

Epstein appeared happy when DeRosa instructed him he’d discovered one thing. He stated the cello’s supposed recipient — a younger Israeli man named Yoed Nir — needed to take a look at the instrument first. DeRosa knew practically each up-and-coming cellist, however he had by no means heard of Nir.

DeRosa had the cello on a trial foundation, and Nir examined the instrument on a go to to DeRosa’s mom’s home in Los Angeles. Nir, who was about 30 years previous and had darkish, shoulder-length hair, which he tossed theatrically whereas taking part in, performed a few of Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites. He had clearly had musical coaching (he was a graduate of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance), however DeRosa thought of his taking part in unexceptional by his exacting requirements. He might consider many younger cellists extra deserving of such an instrument. “I thought it incredibly odd that Jeffrey had chosen this guy,” DeRosa recalled.

Nir authorized of the instrument, and Epstein had his accountant, Richard Kahn, step in to barter the acquisition from Benning Violins. Kahn obtained an appraisal, then bargained down the value to $165,000. (DeRosa, who felt like his status was on the road since he’d initiated the transaction, discovered this insulting.)

‘You Can’t Treat Someone Like That’

Weeks later, when DeRosa was again in New York, Epstein’s assistant known as and stated DeRosa needs to be at his home the following morning at precisely 7:30 a.m. There, Epstein gestured towards a big unopened cardboard field. DeRosa stated he opened the package deal and verified that it was similar cello he’d positioned in Los Angeles.

“Did you make any money on the transaction?” Epstein requested.

“No,” DeRosa answered, livid on the insinuation that he’d taken a minimize.

Epstein walked out with out additional remark. “He showed no interest in the cello,” DeRosa recalled.

Ferguson was upset when she heard concerning the assembly. She known as Epstein and chastised him. “You can’t treat someone like that,” she stated. He was unapologetic.

The cash to purchase the cello got here from Epstein’s basis, and the acquisition was mirrored on its 2011 tax return. Kahn drew up an settlement wherein the cello can be lent to Nir without charge, in accordance with an individual conversant in the association.

Not lengthy after, singer Judy Collins carried out on the Café Carlyle. A optimistic overview in The New York Times talked about in passing that Collins had “added a new element, a cellist, Yoed Nir.”

Epstein and Ferguson subsequently papered over their disagreement, and he or she urged DeRosa to forgive him. When a useful Stradivarius cello got here available on the market, Epstein supplied to purchase it for DeRosa’s use. DeRosa had a singular connection to the instrument, since a basis had beforehand owned it and lent it to him early in his profession.

So assured was the vendor {that a} deal would come collectively that DeRosa took possession of the instrument. But Epstein balked on the asking worth of $14 million, refusing to pay greater than $10 million, in accordance with DeRosa. The deal unraveled, and DeRosa returned the cello. It later offered for greater than the asking worth, DeRosa stated.

DeRosa Has Regrets

DeRosa and Ferguson have been shocked in 2019 when Epstein was arrested and charged with intercourse trafficking. Ferguson couldn’t reconcile the allegations with the person she thought she knew. Given his wealth and connections to highly effective folks, she figured he’d someway get off the hook. She wrote him a letter in jail providing to go to and produce meals. She by no means obtained a reply. On Aug. 10, Epstein died by suicide.

Several months later, DeRosa emailed Nir to seek out out what had occurred to the Soffritti cello. Nir stated solely that he’d returned it. At the Epstein basis’s request, Nir had delivered the cello to a New York regulation agency in October 2019. Its case was damaged, and the cello itself had suffered some injury, in accordance with DeRosa. (Nir stated the case wasn’t damaged when he returned it and that the instrument was “in very good playing condition.”) The basis requested Benning Violins to once more market and promote it, and Benning agreed to provide a brand new case.

Wittingly or not, Epstein had made a sound funding. This time the value was $220,000 — or 33% greater than what Epstein had paid eight years earlier. With the backing of a monetary companion whom DeRosa wouldn’t determine, he took possession of the cello in early 2020, simply earlier than the coronavirus pandemic introduced an finish to stay performances.

Like many individuals in Epstein’s orbit, DeRosa now regrets ever getting twisted up with him and desires he had stored the cello for himself. “I wish I’d never let Jeffrey buy the cello,” DeRosa stated. “I’m not a dealer. I’m a concert cellist. I was always angry at myself that I let it go.”

A Clue on the Cafe

The thriller persists: Why had Epstein purchased the cello within the first place? What was his connection to Nir?

An vital clue emerged on the 2011 Judy Collins live performance on the Café Carlyle. Collins’ longtime musical arranger and pianist, Russell Walden, recalled that one factor concerning the night caught in his reminiscence. At the cafe, he met Nir’s spouse, Anat. Nir talked about that she was the daughter of Barak, the previous Israeli prime minister.

There are hardly any public references to Barak’s kids. Reached not too long ago in Tel Aviv, he confirmed that Yoed and Anat Nir are his son-in-law and daughter.

Barak — who was prime minister from 1999 to 2001 and later served in different high-ranking authorities jobs — stated that one other former prime minister, Shimon Peres, launched him to Epstein in 2003. Barak has stated that he and Epstein met dozens of occasions however he “never took part in any party or event with women or anything like that.”

Over the years Epstein wooed Barak by, amongst different issues, investing $1 million in a restricted partnership established by Barak in 2015.

He stated he launched Epstein to Nir in 2010 or 2011, although he didn’t know that Epstein subsequently lent Nir the cello. Therefore, Barak stated, it “could not be true” that Epstein used the cello mortgage to curry favor. A extra seemingly rationalization, he stated, “is that Mr. Epstein did it based on the reputation of Yoed as an extremely gifted cellist.” (Asked if he’d ever instructed his father-in-law concerning the mortgage, Nir declined to reply.)

Nonetheless, the mortgage of a $165,000 cello was the sort of favor that Epstein would possibly solely have made identified when he wished one thing in return. After all, not simply anyone had the assets and connections to supply a rare cello for the relative of a robust political chief — simply the kind of person who Epstein had a knack for retaining shut.