Past Events
The BVMA Marathon (2004)
The BVMA organised an International Violin Making Competition at the Royal Academy of Music, London. In order to raise funds for the event and publicise it, we organised a violin and bow-making marathon in the Academy's workshop. I was one of twelve makers making the violin, it was made in three days following a very tight timetable. We copied the Lord Wilton Guarneri del Gesu violin which was Lord Menuhin's violin. The new violin was raffled off and premiered at the gala concert at the end of the competition. It was premiered by Irvine Arditti who played a specially commissioned piece by György Kurtág entitled “for the birth of a violin”
Kessler Collection Fundraiser (2008)
At the biannual viol meeting in Fertans, France, Le Bois de Lutherie's workshop, 8 international viol makers made a copy of the Richard Meares bass viol which is part of the Kessler collection. We made the instrument to raise funds to save the collection from dispersion. It was made in five days to a very tight time table, and included all the carvings and ornament of the original. The Meares bass viol is one of the best preserved 17th C English bass viol known, and it was a special privilege to have the instrument with us in Fertans. Following the making, the new viol did a tour of Europe, France, Germany, Holland and Britain where 2000 raffle tickets were sold raising a total of £12,000.- for the fund.
More images of the event can be found on the Le Bois de Lutherie's website
Pictures of original Meares courtesy of The Kessler Collection