Rick Thacker

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. The process of learning these instruments was not easy for him, however, when he began lessons with a new teacher when he was 13, a teacher who played along with Rick, something clicked. He learned all he could about his instruments and the learning process, becoming a teacher himself just three years later. He was giving private lessons and teaching at his church when he began thinking about the craft of building instruments. Soon after he enrolled at the Chicago Violin Making School where he realized at once this was what he wanted to do. With his wife, also a violin teacher, they opened Plum Grove Music to provide high quality instruments to students and churches around the world. Rick has also help guide our industry in other ways, including serving on the NASMD Board.