Somehow there’s always someone in a lecture who can throw you a question from out of the blue that really makes you think. It’s why it’s such a privilege to give a few lectures each year.
In April 2017 I was delighted to visit Newark School of Violin Making to give a whole day of lecturing on violin identification, the inaugural lecture of a BVMA initiative spearheaded by Marion Pollart. Violin identification is such a huge topic it’s impossible to know where to begin, so the day started with as many violins as I could pile into one place for the students to make their impressions. Was the French violin really a Vuillaume? Was this Stainer copy English or German, and how do you tell the difference between a French and a German trade fiddle?
Getting back to the lecture room, and interpreting Bruce Carlson’s excellent slides about the interior work of a Stradivari and a Vuillaume was more fun to end the day… back next year? I hope so… 
