Violin Restoration Course
As those of you who have already been to Halsway will know, the manor is a lovely venue set in the glorious countryside in north Somerset. It is smaller than West Dean but every bit as nice. This allows us to have exclusive use of the entire building. Find out more about Halsway
*This is our highest level professional development course and therefore a minimum requirement is to have completed a full time violin making school course, an apprenticeship or be of equivalent standard.*
Tutors: Warren Bailey, Gudrun Kremeier and Almuth MacWilliams.
Places limited to 18.
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 but feel that you would benefit from guidance? Then this is the course for you!
All participants will bring their own projects to work on and will have the huge benefit of working with the expert tutors and other participants to learn while completing their project.
Bow making and Restoration Course
Tutors: Evan Orman and Derek Wilson with Markus Laine joining us for the first week. (Tim Baker will be there on the making side and will be helping, not teaching this time).
Places limited to 12.
Restorations will be guided by the projects that participants bring so dig out your problematic bows and spend some quality time with others doing similar work. You will not only be able to learn from our expert tutors but also from the other participants.
How the course will work
We have the whole Manor for 12 days which allows us to have a full 10 days of teaching with a rest day in the middle.
Teaching hours will be strictly limited to 9.00am to 6.30pm. However, the workshops will be open for as long as we wish for independent work outside these times, including for the tutors.
On Saturday 12th participants will be free to work independently or just relax. We plan to make this day open to all BVMA members to visit to see what goes on and have a party in the evening.
The total cost for the full 12 days will be from £1700 to £2100 depending on room choice, with camping or camper van at £1500, to include all teaching, food and accommodation.
While we encourage people to sign up for the full 12 days if they can, it is recognised that some will find it difficult to commit to the full 12 days due to time or financial constraints. For this reason, there is also the option to sign up for just one week.
If attending for only the first week, arrival will be on Sunday 6th October at 5pm and leaving after lunch on Saturday 12 October.
For the second week only, arrival will be at 2pm on Saturday 12 October and leaving after lunch on Friday 18 October.
The cost for one week will be from £950 to £1150 depending on room choice, with camping or camper van at £850, to include all teaching, food and accommodation.
In addition, 2 bursaries are available from the BVMA covering half the cost of the course. These will be prioritised to help people in the early stage of their career (within 8 years from the start of training).
Due to the high demand of the last few courses we have decided to go back to asking for an expression of interest rather than full payment straight away. This will allow a fairer chance to those who are a little slower with technology as well as helping to have a good balance of experience on the course. We will mostly prioritise those who reply first so please follow the LINK to the form to register your interest. Full payment will be due by 1st April. We look forward to seeing you at Halsway!
Tim Baker and the Short course team.
Tutor Biographies
Gudrun Kremeier
Gudrun Kremeier graduated from the Violin Making School in Mittenwald in 1992 and worked for Vincent Loerakker in Haarlem and Max Möller in Amsterdam. For over 20 years she has worked for Andreas Post as well as completing her Meisterprüfung. She enjoys the combination of major restoration work and making new instruments. Each year she attends the Violin Society of America’s new making workshop in Oberlin and has taught on the BVMA Restoration course several times before.
Warren Bailey
Warren Bailey is an instrument restorer, and sometimes maker, of violins, violas and cellos. British-born Warren now lives in Victoria, Canada repairing instruments for clients throughout the world. He studied violin making and repair at Newark Violin Making School and began his career in restoration with Philip Brown Violins of Newbury, Florian Leonhard and J&A Beare.
Almuth McWilliams
Almuth McWilliams studied at the violin making school in Mittenwald. After graduating she came to Berlin to work for Felix Scheit and Kevin Gentges. She soon made the decision to concentrate on repair and restoration. In 2002 she started working in the shop of Daniel Kogge and Yves Gateau, Berlin. During this time she’s attended several workshops to further her knowledge. Through 20+ years working at a top level workshop Almuth has gained a depth of knowledge which she shares through teaching at both Villefavard, France and the BVMA restoration courses in the UK.
Evan Orman
Born in Colorado, Evan Orman studied cello at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Banff Centre in Canada, and the New England Conservatory. He made his first bow in 1994 and subsequently worked in the shop of Denver violin maker, Rock Eggen.
Having regularly attended the bow making workshop at Oberlin College since 1999, Evan honed his skills while working with many of today's leading makers, including Stéphane Thomachot, Eric Grandchamp, Lee Guthrie, Jean Grunberger, Tim Baker, and many others.
His bows are in the hands of several top players, including Edward Dusinberre of the Takács Quartet, and cellists Rainer Eudeikis and Jeremiah Campbell.
He is an owner of Denver Violins and is currently the President of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers.
Markus Laine
Originally from Finland, Markus Laine studied violin making at the Newark School of Violin Making. He worked for Philip Brown Violins in the UK for several years before moving to Christophe Landon Rare Violins in New York City.
In 2014 he opened his own shop in New York where he makes and restores instruments and bows.
Derek Wilson
Born 1962, Derek Wilson trained as a bowmaker and repairer at W. E. Hill & Sons. In 1985, he left Hills to set up a bow department for Peter Benedek in Munich, returning to the UK in 1991 to start his own business, first on the Isle of Wight and from 2000 in Tunbridge Wells. Derek works part time for J & A Beare and in 2018 became a part owner and director of W. E. Hill & Sons. He has taught on bow-making and repairing courses in the UK and Canada, as well as co-authoring the bow chapter of Musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum (2011) with Tim Baker, and The Hill Bow Makers 1880-1962 (2016) with John Milnes.
What previous BVMA course participants say:
“Truly looking forward to take another course … and wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone interested”
“A very special week!”
“I’m really grateful for the help I have received from both the tutors and my fellow course members”.
“It was a privilege to be in Halsway for the bow repair course. Tim and Jutta have the great talent to make the course engaging - sharing their knowledge with passion, professionalism and kindness”.
“Initially I was a little worried about taking the course but I had the best week! Learnt so much, met some wonderful people, ate a lot of excellent food, had fun and now feel I can do my job even better than before”