Due to popular demand, the BVMA have teamed up with varnish expert Pierre Flavetta to offer members the incredible opportunity to further their varnishing skills with this exciting course.

You’ll learn about varnish theory, the history of varnishes and recent discoveries plus all about colourants and any other aspect of the history of varnishes you can imagine!

Limited number of places available, the course will be open up July 18th at 7pm BST. Book soon to avoid disappointment.

Do you have a restoration project that has been hanging around your workshop for a while and you still haven’t got round to it? Are you restoring an instrument or bow but feel that you would benefit from guidance? Then this is the course for you!

With world class tutors, this is our highest level of professional development course. We have booked the whole Manor for 12 days, which will be our longest course ever, but if you can’t escape for this long then there is an option to come for just half of the time.

The third edition of our set-up course at Halsway Manor in Somerset, for violin makers at the beginning of their career.

During the week at Halsway we will concentrate on the set-up of a violin, particularly the sound-post and bridge.

Tutors Andrew Fairfax and Kathrin Hügel will talk through every single step before applying the theory in practice with practical demonstrations.

SOLD OUT

Jutta Walcher will be joining Tim Baker for this January course at Halsway Manor. This course is aimed at those who already have good hand skills and would like to be able to do more work on bows.

With many bow rehairers now retiring, there is a serious shortage of people able to work on bows, creating a great opportunity.

SOLD OUT

This course is aimed at those who already have good violin making skills and would like to be able learn or improve upon their varnishing skills. A very successful method of varnishing and also antiquing will be taught by Antoine Nédléc, Executive Director of the Chicago School of Violin Making, and Jeff Phillips, Associate Director of the same school. Uncounted competition winners, including of course both of them, have used the varnish method they teach and they have taught it at Oberlin for years too.

BVMA Instrument and Bow making workshop October 8th-20th 2023 Halsway Manor.

Click HERE to sign up now!

If you are a violin or bow maker looking to work with others and complete your own project, the BVMA are excited to offer you the opportunity to attend this workshop.

Cost for 12 day workshop between £700 - £950 which includes all food and accommodation.

Pack up your tools and project(s) and find a bench waiting for you at Halsway Manor www.halswaymanor.org.uk/your-visit/location/ for an incredible twelve days of immersion in all things violin related.

Limited number of places available so book soon to avoid disappointment. Too much fun to miss!

We look forward to seeing you there.

Sold Out!

BVMA Course: Set up 25th – 30th June 2023, Halsway Manor

The second edition of our set-up course in Halsway, for violin makers at the beginning of their

career. During the week in Halsway we will concentrate on the set-up of a violin, especially the

sound-post and bridge, as these are the most crucial elements. Andrew Fairfax and Kathrin Hügel

will talk you through every single step before applying the theory in practice.

This course is primarily aimed at those with some experience and who enjoy learning through watching and chatting in a workshop situation. There will be a maximum of 9 places.

There will be no teachers as such, but rather a small group who will be working on their own work and helping participants as well.

This course is designated for our more experienced members and will be taught by Damien Sainmont and Catherine Janssens. Participants will bring their own set-up instruments, which will then be assessed. Instruments will be looked at from different aspects, such as architecture of each individual instrument, resonances and their impact on the instrument’s parts, as well as comfort of playing.

After the pandemic forced its absence the BVMA will once again be hosting a conference this autumn, in beautiful Halsway Manor in Somerset, on the weekend of 15/16th October 2022.

For 2022 the BVMAs main course will be very similar to our previous courses at West Dean, with the

same tutors as 3 years ago.

The course starts on Sunday at 4pm with the practical element finishing before lunch on Saturday.

This is followed by a 1 1/2 day BVMA conference on wood and sound, a concert and party.

A set-up course in Halsway, aimed at violin makers at the beginning of their careers. During our week in Halsway we will focus on the set-up of a violin, especially the sound-post and bridge, which are the most important aspects. Andrew Fairfax and Kathrin Hügel will talk you through every single step before putting the theory into practice.

Iris Carr is a violin restorer specialising in major restorations of violins, violas and cellos.

Her Retouching course covers all aspects from completed woodwork to finishing the varnish, including the treatment and staining of wood, filling cracks and joints, creating texture, retouching and patina.

With Jutta Walcher, Derek Wilson and Tim Baker

Jutta is an award-winning bow maker, with 25 years’ experience repairing and rehairing bows. In her rehairing demonstrations, she will be highlighting the importance of this part of bow making by bringing to the fore not only the practical stages of the job, but also the essential preparatory work that should always be carried out.

We recognise many of you will be desperate to work with other people in a safe environment. Westhope College in Shropshire will remain closed this Autumn but Halsway Manor in Somerset will reopen in late September. We have agreed with Halsway that instead of taught courses, we will run two 5-day workshops for a maximum of 10 people each week.

Halsway Manor is the National Centre for Folk Arts and runs a number of residential arts and crafts courses.(halswaymanor.org.uk). It is a great venue with a workshop big enough for 10–12 people. This initial course will run for just 5 days, but the workshops will be open for extended hours. We want to offer the opportunity for people already skilled to the level of graduating from violin making college to feel confident to also work on bows.

Cremona’s annual music fair runs from 27-29 September 2019, and as usual forming a meeting place for itinerant violin aficionados from all around the world. What more can we say… http://www.cremonamusica.com

British Violin Making Association 2019 Oxford Conference: Early Violin Making in Northern Europe, 1560-1725. This year’s conference brings together experts on the seventeenth-century Northern European schools of making from around the continent, and celebrates the interrelationships and stylistic commonalities that exist between French, Dutch, British, Flemish and Belgian makers. Taking place at the usual venue of the Catholic Chaplaincy in Oxford, the two day event will include round table discussions and an informal exhibition of instruments.

Over seven days (56 hours), François will cover the theory and practice of preparation and varnishing wood for violin making. Participants will investigate methods using classical materials (particularly focussing on the recreation of historical practice) as well as techniques using modern materials. The course includes the study of the use and effect of light on each stage of the life of an instrument, including evaluation of historical instruments. Seventy percent of the course time is spent on practical work.

Over seven days (56 hours), François will cover the theory and practice of preparation and varnishing wood for violin making. Participants will investigate methods using classical materials (particularly focussing on the recreation of historical practice) as well as techniques using modern materials. The course includes the study of the use and effect of light on each stage of the life of an instrument, including evaluation of historical instruments. Seventy percent of the course time is spent on practical work.

Held from July 13th – 20th 2019 at The Scots School in Bathurst, NSW, Australia, this is promising to be a illustrious gathering of some remarkably talented and internationally renowned minds. The congress is the first international Luthier and Archetier gathering in the southern hemisphere. It is hoped that the congress will inspire, inform, connect and maintain the creativity and professionalism of all participants. Visit www.alacongress.com

Over seven days (56 hours), François will cover the theory and practice of preparation and varnishing wood for violin making. Participants will investigate methods using classical materials (particularly focussing on the recreation of historical practice) as well as techniques using modern materials. The course includes the study of the use and effect of light on each stage of the life of an instrument, including evaluation of historical instruments. Seventy percent of the course time is spent on practical work.

This is the third European training school in acoustics for violin makers. The first one took place at ITEMM in Le Mans (France) in February 2017, at the end of which it was decided to organise one yearly, each time in a different making school across Europe. The second training school has been hosted by the Department of Musical Instrument Making of the School of Arts in Ghent (Belgium). The third one will be hosted by the Staatliche Musikinstrumentenbauschule Mittenwald (state vocational school for instrument making in Mittenwald) in April 2019.

The BVMA has organised professional development courses at West Dean for violin and bow restorers since 2006. They haveproved popular with independent professionals and those who work in violin and bow shops. The course aims to extend your knowledge of new techniques and introduce you to a network of other people in workshops around the world with similar interests and problems. With the workshops available until 10pm, there is the opportunity to complete enough work to recover a significant part of the course fees.

This year we welcome Warren Bailey, Gudrun Kremeier and Almuth MacWilliams for violin restoration; and on the bow side,Derek Wilson for bow restoration and Evan Orman and Tim Baker for bow making.