I’m delighted to be chairman, co-ordinator, curator, chief bottle-washer and over all dogsbody for the British Violin Making Association’s 2019 Conference on The Early Violin Makers in Northern Europe, 1560-1725.
The conference will highlight some of the spectacular instrument making from north of the Alps, from England and the low-counties, through France, Füssen and of course worshiping at the feet of Jacob Stainer, a maker whose genius gave him a reputation to directly rival the Amatis. This follows in the footsteps of the Stradivari Messiah 301’st anniversary conference, which I ran at Oxford in 2017. This should be an absolutely amazing two days and the first of an annual cycle of conferences the details of which remain top secret.
The British Violin Making Association is for people from all over the world and has become one of the most respected societies of its kind. You don’t have to be a violin maker to be a member, just a professional, an amateur and enthusiast or a musician who is passionate about the violin and curious about how it is made. Become a member now: http://bvma.org.uk/join.html
At the moment we are assembling a world-class line up of speakers. More to follow, but save the date 14-15 September 2019.