Category: Trips

The Silakowski Five-String Project

June 7, 2025

John Silakowski (1949-2022) was a violinmaker in Scottsburg, Indiana. He was the first violinmaker to make purpose built five-strings for fiddlers. He was quite productive […]

Cutting Wood for Violin and Cello Tops

August 1, 2023

Trips, Violin Makers, Violin Making

Last month I had the opportunity to fill a gap in my luthier's education. Even during the Redwood Violin project where I made a violin […]

Mexico. A short trip with a violin in a box

July 18, 2023

Trips, Violin Makers, Violinabox

As part of the Violinabox project I carried the violin down to Mexico. The first stop was to visit Damian Stoppani, one of the most […]

Making violins in Tepoztlan, Mexico

October 30, 2017

News, Trips

A month in Mexico. In the pursuit of a deeper knowledge, in the hope of recharging the creative batteries, and for a simple love of […]

Oberlin Violinmakers Workshop

July 15, 2017

News, Trips, Violin Making

For many years I have wanted to attend the annual, two week,Violin Making Workshop at Oberlin, Ohio. It attracts makers from all over the world […]

Rio de Janeiro

May 31, 2017

News, Trips, Violin Makers

I recently fulfilled an old dream: to deliver an instrument to a musician in an exotic part of the world. Daniel Prazeres is principal viola […]