A BRIEF HISTORY

Born in New York City, I became interested in music and woodworking when I was young.  I studied the cello at the LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and apprenticed in the violin shop of Stephen McGhee and Andrea Hoffman on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  Both of my teachers there were trained at the Violin Making School in Mittenwald, Germany and worked with Rene Morel and others in New York before opening their own shop.

In 1982 I went to Salt Lake City, Utah to study at the Violin Making School of America under Peter Prier.  After four years of school, I worked for two years as a maker and restorer in the workshops of Peter Paul Prier Violins.  I lived in Utah for 23 years, working in my own shop and with others.

In 2005 I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where I was Head of Workshop at Tulsa Violin Shop, serving professionals and students with repairs, adjustments, consultations, and sales.

In 2007 I came to Wisconsin to be closer to family, and 2009 I started my new shop in downtown Appleton near Lawrence University and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.

WHY "ROGERI"?

Many violin shops are eponymously named.  In considering a name for my new business, I realized that at least two others already had established violin workshops and websites with the last name "Harrison".

I have always admired the instruments of the Rogeri family of Brescia, and while I was a student at the Violin Making School in Salt Lake City my schoolmates and teachers sometimes called me "Rogeri".  I decided to name my new business Rogeri Violin Shop, in part because of the new meanings that the letter i has acquired - internet and information.