Festival Exhibition 2022

An international exhibition of fine contemporary violin and bow making runs throughout the festival and displays instruments and bows from some of the leading makers in the field. The exhibition is comprised of both baroque and modern violin, viola, cello and double bass and baroque, transitional and modern bows for the quartet.

The makers will be present, some will be working at their benches and all will be available to meet and to discuss their work. All of the instruments and bows in the exhibition are available for trial and most are available for sale. An instrument and bow maintenance and repair service will also be available throughout the festival.

Violin Talks

Violin Talks are held alongside the exhibition in The Old Cinema, Bantry. All talks are free.

Past Events

Wednesday 29 June 2022

56. How to Choose an Instrument - CANCELLED

29 June 20222:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free - No tickets needed
Artist Johannes Moser
Friday 1 July 2022

83. Physics of the Violin

1 July 20223:15 pm
Old Cinema
Free - No tickets needed
Artist John Cockburn
Saturday 2 July 2022
David Munro

94. The Life of a Modern Violin Maker

2 July 20222:00 pm
Old Cinema
Free - No tickets needed
Artist David Munro

The Makers

Violin Makers
Bärbel Bellinghausen

Bärbel Bellinghausen

Violin Makers

Baerbel Bellinghausen is devoted to sound: string instruments have been part of her life ever since her youth. She is...

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Youenn Bothorel

Youenn Bothorel

Violin Makers

His sensitivity to music and its instruments led him at 19 years old to Newark School of Violin Making, England,...

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John Cockburn

John Cockburn

Violin Makers

John Cockburn’s passion for violin making arose from lifelong obsessions with acoustics, craftsmanship, and music of all genres. Following stints...

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Andrew Finnegan & Pia Klaembt

Andrew Finnegan & Pia Klaembt

Violin Makers

We are fascinated by sound. Understanding the acoustical properties of our instruments and their materials is the driving force in...

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Bertrand Galen

Bertrand Galen

Violin Makers

Bertrand was born in Metz in eastern France and trained at the Mirecourt International Violinmaking School. After five years as...

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Michiel de Hoog

Michiel de Hoog

Violin Makers

Michiel de Hoog has been making violins for over forty years. Born in Holland into an artistic family, he started...

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Francis Kuttner

Francis Kuttner

Violin Makers

Francis Kuttner was born in Washington D.C. to German Jewish refugees who fled Berlin in the '30s via Rome and...

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David Munro

David Munro

Violin Makers

David Munro makes violins and violas for professional orchestral musicians, chamber music players and soloists. His instruments have recorded chamber...

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Conor Russell

Conor Russell

Violin Makers

Conor Russell was born in Dublin, Ireland. He played the violin, and began making instruments at Cork School of Music....

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Bow Makers
Victor Bernard

Victor Bernard

Bow Makers

Victor Bernard was born in 1985 in Compiegne, near Paris. He studied at the Newark School of Violin Making in...

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Noel Burke

Noel Burke

Bow Makers

Noel Burke began his bow making career in 1989 as apprentice to Charles Espey in Seattle Washington and later to...

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Emmanuel Carlier

Emmanuel Carlier

Bow Makers

Emmanuel Carlier was born in 1975 near Paris. After history studies, a violin making apprenticeship and few years of journalism,...

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Niall Flemming

Niall Flemming

Bow Makers

At the age of 16 Niall became interested in violin making. In 2010 he completed the violin-making course in Newark,...

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Klaus Grünke

Klaus Grünke

Bow Makers

Klaus Grünke learned the craft of bow making from his father Richard Grünke, in Bubenreuth. In the years 1980- 1982...

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Rüdiger Pfau

Rüdiger Pfau

Bow Makers

Since my first fortuitous contacts with bowmaking I find my enjoyment of the profession increasing every year. The craft makes...

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Christophe Schaeffer

Christophe Schaeffer

Bow Makers

Christophe Schaeffer was born on the 11 February 1958 and played the violin from the age of eleven. In 1974...

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Stéphane Thomachot

Stéphane Thomachot

Bow Makers

Stéphane Thomachot was born in 1959 in Bourg-la-Reine, France, and studied bow making at Mirecourt under Bernard Ouchard from 1975...

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Gregor Walbrodt

Gregor Walbrodt

Bow Makers

Gregor Walbrodt, born in 1968, began his training as a bowmaker in 1990 at the Roderich Paesold workshop in Bubenreuth,...

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Arts Council - funding music
Crespo Foundation
Fáilte Ireland
Wild Atlantic Way
Cork County Council
Pure Cork
RTE Lyric FM
Creative Places West Cork Islands
Irish Examiner
Maritime Hotel
IMRO - Irish Music Rights Organisation