2021 Fellowships

Michele Bartos
Violin Maker/Restorer, Lincoln, Nebraska, US

@bartiviolins

Michele holds a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance, and graduated from the Chicago School of Violin Making in 2012. After work experiences at various local shops and attending Oberlin Restoration Workshop, Michele founded her own company, Barti Violins. Michele hopes to continue honing and focusing her skills in violin repair & restoration, especially the restoration planning process and varnish retouch. Michele is excited to meet other women in the field in a supportive environment to learn and grow together.

Ludivine Brouillet
Violin Maker/Restorer, Amsterdam, Netherlands

@ludivinebrouillet

Hailing from France, Ludivine graduated from Newark School of Violin Making in 2020, winning numerous awards and scholarships for her dedication and work. Since then, Ludivine has traveled the world to work with experienced luthiers to continue on learning, expanding her horizons, and fueling her passion for excellence. Ludivine is currently working at a violin shop in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is very interested in delving deeper into violin restoration techniques.

Amanda N. Ewing
Apprentice Luthier, Nashville, Tennessee, US

@lovinglydemeoviolins

Amanda is a traveling, dancing, life-loving soul mama; committed to breaking down barriers, trailblazing, inspiring, and raising black voices & presence in the field of lutherie and classical music. Amanda started her apprenticeship with a local luthier 3 years ago, and is immensely enjoying soaking everything up, meeting people, and finding her space. She particularly dreams of making more cello and basses, and is currently making her first commissioned bass.

Liliana Holguin
Student, National Institute of Fine Arts, Querétaro, Mexico

@holguin_luthier

Liliana trained as an Industrial Designer and worked at a furniture factory before deciding to pursue lutherie at National Institute of Fine Arts, where she is finishing her last year. Named the “Best Novice Violin Maker” by Southern Violinmakers Association for her award-winning viola, Liliana loves combining her industrial design & lutherie skills to create patterns, diagrams, and 3D models to help more people get access to violin making information, and hopes to learn cello & bow making next.

Yasmeen Husain
Amateur Luthier, Edinburgh, Scotland

@yasmeen.o.husain

An actuary by day, a luthier by night (and weekends), Yasmeen fell in love with Lutherie a year ago when she was forced to learn to repair her own guitar at home during the Pandemic lockdown. She found unexpected bliss in the combination of woodwork and the science of sound: which is the closest she’d been to her childhood dream of being an inventor. Yasmeen is currently teaching herself how to build a ukulele, and hopes to continue training the skills she’ll need for her first acoustic guitar build.nced luthiers to get more hands-on training, and focusing on making violins and violas moving forward.

Katherine Marguerite Kidwell, Violin Repair/Restorer, Fairfax, Virginia, US

@kmkatherine

Having studied sculpture and viola performance from an early age, it quickly became apparent Katherine is a natural at the bench when she started working part time at a local violin shop while attending college. Now a full-time violin repairer/restorer, Katherine is excited to start making her very first violin & viola on her own, delving deeper into violin restoration techniques, and connecting with other female luthiers to keep growing together in the field of lutherie.

Pamela Laizure
Violin Repair/Restorer, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

@pamelalaizurelutherie

Pamela graduated from the Redwing Violin Repair Program at Minnesota State College. When she’s not helping customers and doing repairs at a local violin shop, she’s rocking out at clubs with her all-female band Black Widows, co-creating safer space for women & gender expansive folks in the Minnesota rock scene, and hanging with her rescue pup Sofi. Pamela is particularly interested in building solid-body electric violins and guitars that work for different bodies and their different needs.

Jaein Lee
Violin Maker/Restorer, Norwalk, Connecticut, US

@jen_jjang

Hailing from South Korea, Jaein comes from a musical family, and originally pursued a career as a violinist before getting bit by the lutherie bug. Jaein graduated from North Bennett Street School for Violin Making & Repair in 2014, and ran her own workshop in Korea for a year. Now based in Connecticut, Jaein works as the head luthier at a local violin shop and teaches music. Jaein is interested in learning more violin restoration techniques, particularly varnish retouching.

Maria Machado
Violin Maker, Tafi del Valle, Tucuman, Argentina

@mariamachadolutheria

Maria began her journey in lutherie in 2007 making guitars, ukuleles, charangos, Peruvian cajons, and basses. Eventually deciding to focus on violin family instruments, Maria enrolled at the Violin Making School at Faculty of Arts of the National University of Tucumán where she graduated in 2016; and spent a year in Cremona, Italy to learn more about baroque instruments. Maria is currently focusing on making violins and violas, particularly smaller violas to suit petite bodies without compromising the sound.

Inès Bulliard Sanchez
Student, Newark School of Violin Making and Repair, UK

@inesviolins

Originally from Switzerland, Inès is a 2nd year student currently training at Newark School of Violin Making. Inès has completed 2 violins so far, and is learning basic & advanced repairs. Excited about making a cello soon, she is looking forward to finding out what a real life shop experience would be like, meeting other women in the field to connect with and support each other’s growth together. Inès would like to make a violin in each country she visits, learning and using the local techniques, her next destination is Italy.

Tham Wai Yong
Violin/Guitar Maker, Singapore

@wai_violins

An experienced psychiatrist, Wai Yong found her second calling 3 years ago and started training herself in lutherie - meticulously combing through the books and online resources to create her own research database, setting up her own workshop and her own business while raising 3 kids. Wai Yong is excited to dive deeper into the acoustics of violins, working with other experienced luthiers to get more hands-on training, and focusing on making violins and violas moving forward.

Hailing from Yorkshire, Paris began her training in Harpsichord making and repair before focusing on bowed instruments at Merton College. After spending some time working in London, she relocated to Florence in 2017, where she is now part of a lutherie collective as a full-time maker. Innovative marketing strategist, Paris has a devout following on Instagram, and runs Women In Lutherie Instagram, where she enjoys connecting women around the globe through the shared love of craft.

@palutherie

Trained at the Luthería School of Tucumán and Cafayate, Flor is known for her marquetry, inlay, and lacquer work on her guitars. Founder of Red Lutherística, a Spanish-speaking community lifting up women and gender minorities in lutherie, Flor also teaches "Formación para el Trabajo" class at the National University of the Arts; equipping students with practical knowledge of career in lutherie, from running a business, health & safety, to customer service. Flor runs her own workshop in Buenos Aires, while raising her 6 year old son Matheo.

@florzenturion

Jennifer started her training at the Chimneys Violin Making School in the 80's. She then ran her own full-service violin shop in North Carolina for 30 years. In 2017, Jennifer took a few years to travel the world to develop a deeper understanding of the violin industry, visiting museums, auctions, trade shows, factories, and symposiums; meeting countless women in lutherie on her way, which became the seeds of Women In Lutherie. She is now committed to making again full-time and using her business skills to lift up women at the bench.

@jennifercreadick

Gwen began building instruments in the 80’s, and is mostly self-taught. An artist as much as she is an instrument builder, each of Gwen’s instruments are a custom creation. Gwen uses a mix of locally harvested and salvaged materials, mostly sawn, dried, repurposed by herself - showcasing many overlooked species of domestic timber as a sustainable, ecological alternative to endangered exotic woods commonly used in guitar-making. Gwen resides in rural middle Tennessee with her family and 3 (sometimes 4) cats, and enjoys photographing flowers, bugs, and moss.

@dismal_ax

Lynn started learning rehairs while she was still in High School, and began training in bow making & restoration in New York, while attending New England Conservatory as a bassist. Lynn then spent a year studying bow making in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship. A member of Portland Symphony Orchestra, Lynn runs her own bow shop, and has been teaching bow making, rehair & repairs at the University of New Hampshire for 35 years. Lynn is a doting grandma, and enjoys gardening & nature walks with her Mini Irish Wolf Hound, Cody.

@lah_bows

Born in Munich into a family of musicians, Ruth knew she wanted to be a violin maker when she was just 13. She started training in Munich, eventually graduating from the Mittenwald School of Violin Making. Ruth opened her own workshop in Granada in 2005 and continued learning and researching on the acoustics of making a violin, participating in the Villefavard research group headed by the Sorbonne scientist Claudia Fritz. Ruth is a proud mother of three, and enjoys singing in the local choirs in her spare time.

@luthier.ruth.obermayer

Originally from Switzerland, Marianne started her training at the Cremona School of Violin Making in 1993, and has since dedicated her life to violin making. Marianne’s instruments have won numerous awards and accolades over the years, and she is continuously researching to perfect the sound, construction methods, and materials in Cremona, where she now runs her own workshop. Marianne loves hiking & cycling, as well as gardening, and enjoying Mexican and Korean food with her friends.

@jostmarianne

A Violin Making School of America graduate, Jeemin’s career has been focused solely in high-end conservative violin restoration, traveling the world to work with clients. In 2020, Jeemin was asked to join a global firm as their Head of Workshop, a position rarely held by women. Realizing the lack of female leadership presence in the workshops, Jeemin co-founded Women in Lutherie community with Jennifer in 2021 as a catalyst for necessary change in the field of lutherie. Jeemin is an experienced equity worker, and enjoys afro-latin dance & Iaijutsu.

@jeeminmorgankim

Sarah began her training at a local violin shop learning set-up & repairs. After traveling to Ireland to train with an Irish harp maker, Sarah developed an interest in Baroque instruments, and attended the West Dean College focusing on making viols. Sarah has devoted over a decade to the study of Baroque music and the playing applications, both in London and in New York. Sarah now runs her own business specializing in Baroque instruments as well as modern violin family, and enjoys spending time with her dog, Poppy.

@sarahwpeck

Stacey began her journey in the 70’s apprenticing with an instrument maker. Since the 90’s, she has focused exclusively on the restoration of the violin family from her own workshop, continuously researching advanced restoration techniques in the UK and the US. In 2008 Stacey joined American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, her membership first ever to be considered solely on the basis of restoration skills. Stacey also teaches and contributes to various publications on restoration, and enjoys being a grandma & playing in a community guitar orchestra.

@stylesviolins

The daughter of a woodworker, Laura grew up watching the transformation of the tree by hand and tool. After a short detour earning a biology degree, Laura decided to pursue her dream and began apprenticing with a violin maker & restorer. Laura now works as an in-house luthier for summer music camps, and runs her own workshop on the Sunshine Coast of BC, where she is also raising 3 kids. Laura is passionate about working with other moms navigating motherhood and their career as a luthier.

@laura_wallace_luthier