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 2007 I came to Wisconsin to be closer to family, and in 2009 I started my new shop.