violins

Harry Benson became the president of William Lewis & Sons when the company was under the ownership of Chicago Musical Instrument (CMI). Harry’s guiding principles resulted in the expansion of the violin line and the respect of fellow violin makers such as Kurt Glaesel. Harry was also the one-time boss of another industry veteran and strong supporter of this archive collection, Robert S.

George Borun began his luthier endeavors as a hobby and soon found himself enthralled with the angles, the woods and the tools of the trade. He embarked on a mission to assemble the blueprints and patterns of the world’s finest string instruments and sought to solve the mystery of their uniqueness. Along the way he created an impressive collection of instruments he made by hand and topped off his belief in giving music back to music makers by then donating his instruments to students of all levels.  

Kurt Glaesel was born into a violin-making family, which dates back to 1720, but it was Kurt who made his family name nationally known. After a noted 20 year career with Heinrich Roth, Kurt established Glaesel String Instrument Service, Inc. in 1973. The company was soon sold to Selmer, where Kurt remained making his handcrafted instruments for 15 additional years. During that time, Selmer marketed the string instrument line with a strong, worldwide campaign that featured Kurt’s likeness on each ad and brochure.  

George Gruhn is without question one of the top experts of vintage guitars on the planet! George collected guitars before opening the world renowned Gruhn Guitar Shop in Nashville, TN in the early 1970s. Since that time he has authored several historical reference guides and thousands of articles on his vast collection and knowledge including “Acoustic Guitars & Other Fretted Instruments: A Photographic History” published in 1993.  

 Richard Janda specialized in repairing stringed instruments.  It was also something he enjoyed very much.  During World War II he was trained to repair the band instruments for the U.S.

Lothar Meisel is the ninth generation of violinmakers in his family, going back to 1660 in Klingenthal, Germany. He recalls with a smile the days as a young boy hiding under his grandfather's work bench and even in later years Lothar could recall the lay out of his grandfather's workshop. His grandfather was the designer of the Meisel violin, a model Lothar proudly has made throughout his long career as craftsmen. In 1957, Lothar and his father started a business in America where they worked side by side until his father's passing in 1995.

 Joseph Rashid studied the art of violin-making like few others.  His goal was not to mass produce the instrument or even to sell them, but rather to hand-make the instruments based on scientific evidence.  When he could not locate data on frequency measurements, he conducted his own studies to produce the needed data.  These studies helped him create a violin with a higher quality of sound and he happily shared his finding with other luthiers.  The results of many of his studies

Vijay Talwar’s father sold wood in India, and when Vijay began working for his father as a teenager they noticed an increase in the amount of wood being sold to make musical instruments. After researching the desired woods and cuts, Vijay and other vendors took part in the development of the violin parts industry within India. He watched the demand grow and took part in discovering the woods and later the crafted parts that would be send all around the world.
 

Claude Watson was a precise and revered luthier who perfected the fine art of handcrafted instrument building. He was known for his clever design and complex inlay work in country-style flat tops and a series of violins, cellos, and string basses. He most enjoyed building the guitar and was always willing to show off his current projects, or provide a tour of the large pile of wood he acquired and stored in his back yard. His guitar series was Emmanuel, which Claude took from the Bible as one of the names for Christ.  

William Zeswitz was taught the violin by this father, who formed the Zeswitz Music Store outside of Redding, PA. Bill became president and a true leader in the industry. Over the years, he served on the NAMM Board, the AMC Board, was among the first Charter Benefactors of the Museum of Making Music, and co-formed the Omega Group with James Saied, James Johnson, T. Warren Brown, and Nick Peck. Bill sold the store to Brook Mays upon his retirement in 2001.