Antonio Monzino VII followed in his father’s footsteps. Antonio Monzino VI was a well respected violin maker and expert who began the exportation of Italian musical instruments to several...
Hans Jürgen Nebel is a fourth generation violin maker from Germany who decided that his skills and talents were best served as a repairman. He has rebuilt and restored violins ever since...
Frantisek Nemecek was born and raised in Czechoslovakia where he studied advertising and helped the more than 70 instrument makers in the area to sell their products. Frantisek began by e...
Rudolf Neudörfer, bow maker, grew up in the Czech Republic after 1945 and went to the Violin Making School in Luby, learning the craft of violin making from his teacher Bohumil Pechar and...
Qian Ni is a classically trained flutist and the President of the Eastman Music Company, making him one of the passionate music makers within our industry! His devotion to customer servi...
Linda Osborne fondly recalls with a broad smile and immense pride her parents’ rich musical backgrounds before they established the family’s cherished music store. Leola and Amos Arthur, ...
John Pedersen is a master repair technician with a focus on stringed instruments. John found himself in the position of purchasing a music store with his wife back in 1983. The wonderful ...
Bonka Peykov has a great deal of respect for the process of making high quality musical instruments. When she joined her husband’s family business, she worked long and hard to learn each...
Ivan Peykov grew up in the music business as his father formed a company to make traditional Bulgarian instruments. After attending college with a focus on engineering, Ivan returned to ...
Peter Paul Prier began playing the violin when he was 8 years old, growing up in Germany. He studied violin making while he was a teenager and in 1959 set out to America to open his own v...
Nick Rail is the president and founder of the retail string of stores in Southern California with his namesake that began in 1986. Nick began his career as a band instrument repairman for...
Jim Ransom is the Chairman of the Board for United Wire Technology, which is located in Cleveland, New York. The company was established in 1938, during the Great Depression. United gai...
Kate Riessland was born in England in the years following World War II and soon found she had an interest in learning all she could about the German culture. While in Germany, in 1969, s...
Ernst Roth is a guitar luthier who over the last 40 years of his career has dedicated himself to training younger craftsman in the art of violin and guitar making. He was born in the musi...
Roland Schuster is a bridge maker in the town of Bubenreuth, which has been the center of production for string instruments in Germany since 1945. He started his craft in the workshop of ...
Ekhard Seidl’s steady hand and concentration, so evident when watching him, can be traced back to his grandfather and the tradition of violin making in the town of Markneukirchen Germany....
Lothar Seifert came from a family of musical instrument makers in the Kirchberg area of Germany. His father, Oskar, began making bows in 1924 and by 1932 had set up a workshop in Graslitz...
Jack Shallat was a professional violin player who landed several gigs with traveling bands in the 1930s and 40s. During that time he met Buddy Rogers and both men opened separate music s...
Paula Simmons wanted to create a shop where good quality instruments could be accessible to all those who came in the store. As a teacher, Paula was very interested in providing lessons ...
Kevin Smith opened the Violin Shop in San Diego after extensive training as a violin luthier and appraiser. His knowledge of the craftsmanship of violin making was on display during his N...
Syndenn Sweet was the first woman hired as a luthier at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Tucson, Arizona. This distinction is one she makes with pride, especially considering her father...
Vijay Talwar’s father sold wood in India, and when Vijay began working for his father as a teenager they noticed an increase in the amount of wood being sold to make musical instruments. ...
Bastian Teller is a bridge maker in the 5th generation. Since he was a child, Bastian wanted to step into his father Manfred’s footsteps. After receiving his state certified diploma for m...
Artur Teller created a successful career by producing highly regarded violin bridges and supplying them to luthiers in and around his hometown of Bubenreuth, Germany. Like many of the ins...
Rick Thacker is one of five kids in his family, all of which became multi instrumentalists. Rick pursued violin and viola beginning with the Suzuki Method when he was just three years old...
Roberto Tirado began working in the music industry with William Lewis & Son, the famed violin company out of Chicago. After studying building and repairs he was given the opportunity...
Maureen Wall credits the dedicated teachers who provided her with private lessons for shaping her musical path. Starting piano at age six and moving on to double bass by sixth grade, Maur...
Herbert Wanka is the master bow maker who established his own company in Baiersdorf, Germany in 1971. He began making bows in 1952 and worked as an apprentice to the renowned craftsman, E...
Claude Watson was a precise and revered luthier who perfected the fine art of handcrafted instrument building. He was known for his clever design and complex inlay work in country-style ...
Dale Webb wanted to create a new design for the ukulele with the hope that it would inspire more people to play a musical instrument. His Fluke did exactly that! The instrument was intr...
Phyllis Webb and her husband, Dale, formed The Magic Fluke Company in 1999. The company began making ukuleles in the basement of their home in New Hartford, Connecticut. They were inspir...
John Welch was the president of Sofia Violins, which is an American-made instrument company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. John’s incredible life in music began as a child when he was cl...
