North Bennett Street School

Violin Making and Repair

The Violin Making and Restoration course was established in 1984. We have one of the few, full-time instrument making programs in the United States. Our three-year program prepares the graduate to enter the stringed instrument field as an apprentice repair technician. The curriculum design assumes that a solid foundation in instrument making is a prerequisite to mastering the art of instrument repair.

Curriculum:

Students will:

Develop woodworking and hand-tool skills
Gain a solid understanding of the classical construction of instruments of the violin family
Acquire technical drawing skills
Make varnish and develop finishing techniques
Complete a series of repairs to instruments in the violin family

Instructor	Roman Barnas
Location	Boston, MA
Class size	Small group
Style of Instrument	violin
Duration	3 year
Contact	website

On their first instruments, students learn the basic procedures and techniques of violin construction. The principal objective of the first year is to have students learn the proper use and care of hand tools, the properties of wood, and critical specifications of traditional instrument patterns, while making two violins. During the second and third years students develop varnishing and set-up skills, including cutting bridges, fitting sound posts, planning fingerboards and proper use of glues and clamps, while making a viola, a cello, and five additional violins.

Throughout the course, accomplished violin and bow makers are invited to serve as guest instructors, exposing students to several approaches to violin making. Students are able to take advantage of the luthier community in Boston and typically take field trips to local violin shops, attend previews of the stringed instruments at Skinners Fine Auction, and visit the musical instrument collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Facilities

As with all of the traditional trades taught a North Bennet Street School, violin making is learned as a hands-on skill. Students will find the bench rooms well equipped with a selection of hand tools and equipment needed in a violin shop. There is also a small library and drawing area.

Faculty

Roman Barnas was born in Zakopane, Poland. He entered the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Zakopane at the age of 14, when he first began making violins. He went on to the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland, where he studied music and violinmaking for five more years. He came to the U.S. in 1996 to work at Psarianos Violins in Troy, Michigan. While he has been in this country, he studied violin making in seminars with Boyd Poulsen and in violin restoration with Hans Nebel. He plays violin, accordion and double bass