Violin and bow-makers scheduled to appear at our 2024 West Cork Chamber Music Festival

Click on a maker’s image to see their full biography.

Violin Makers
Baerbel Bellinghausen

Baerbel 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 Finnigan & Pia Klaembt

Andrew Finnigan & 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 violin...

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Ian Knepper

Ian Knepper

Violin Makers

Originally from the united states, Ian has been living in Ireland since 2007. Ian started out in the violin trade...

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Jeremie Legrand

Jeremie Legrand

Violin Makers

Jeremie Legrand began studying violin making at the National School of Mirecourt, France, at the age of 15. He worked...

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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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Jan Strick

Jan Strick

Violin Makers

Violin maker Jan Strick and Bowmaker Pierre Guillaume have been jointly running Maison Bernard, the oldest lutherie workshop in Europe....

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Bow Makers
Tim Baker

Tim Baker

Bow Makers

Tim Baker graduated from the Newark School of Violin Making with distinction in 1981, and joined W.E. Hill & Sons...

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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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Niall Fleming

Niall Fleming

Bow Makers

Niall started playing the violin at the age of 5. He then became interested in making violins at the age...

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Boris Fritsch

Boris Fritsch

Bow Makers

Boris Fritsch established his own workshop in Paris in 2004. He is creating bows on single projects with musicians. Boris...

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