Opening Session

with Jennifer Creadick and Jeemin Morgan Kim

Jennifer and Jeemin will officially kick off the inaugural Women In Lutherie Conference, setting intentions for the 3 days to follow. Come celebrate with us, hear about our community efforts & opening remarks by Jennifer Creadick, check out performances by women played on instruments made by women, and find out how best to navigate the next 3 days with our Conference guide.

10:00am - 10:30am – NY
4:00pm - 4:30pm – Italy

Care & Maintenance of Violin Family Instruments
for Musicians, Teachers, and Students

with Iris-Eirini Zhulla

Iris will discuss basic maintenance topics for violin, viola, and cello:
“I just bought an instrument, now what?”
”How to take care of your instrument”
“DOs and DON'Ts to keep your instrument and yourself happy”
“things to keep in mind when dealing with fractional and student instruments”.

10:35am - 11:05am – NY
4:35pm - 5:05pm – Italy

Erasure of Women's Labor in the History of Musical Instruments & Lutherie

with Jayme Kurland

Jayme will show how the contributions of women in the musical instrument industry have been largely ignored by historians. Using case studies, this presentation will look at the realms in which women have worked throughout time, and will show that women have played pivotal roles in the histories of lutherie.

11:10am - 11:40am – NY
5:10pm - 5:40pm – Italy

Mental Health Issues In Male Dominated Fields

with Tham Wai Yong

Psychiatrist-turned-luthier Wai Yong will share a summary of research evidence to date and a discussion of strategies for self-care.

12:00pm - 12:30pm – NY
6:00pm - 6:30pm – Italy

The Restorer’s Mind - Introduction to Ethical Practices in Repair & Restoration

with Stacey Styles

Repairers and restorers of instruments are tasked with ethical considerations beyond the simple exercise of our bench skills. How we work, and the choices we face, differentiate us from our maker colleagues. This is an introduction to the ethics of repair and restoration for restorers, makers and those who do a bit of both.

1:55pm - 2:25pm – NY
7:55pm - 8:25pm – Italy

Bow Finishing

with Lynn Hannings

Lynn will discuss the final finishing of bow stick, frog and button. Talk will also include materials needed, how to use them, and where to source the materials.

2:30pm - 3:00pm – NY
8:30pm - 9:00pm – Italy

Workshop Safety en Español

with Flor Centurión

Evaluaremos las condiciones de nuestro espacio de trabajo, identificando los factores de riesgo que intervienen en él. Trabajaremos desde la PREVENCIÓN como punto de partida, adoptando PRÁCTICAS PREVENTIVAS que disminuyan los accidentes laborales y enfermedades a largo plazo en el taller de luthería.

3:20pm - 3:50pm – NY
9:20pm - 9:50pm – Italy

Development of Gut Strings between 1848 and 1951

with Daniela Gaidano

Today’s musicians and luthiers are facing a dilemma; the search of that rich sound of yesteryears, while also satisfying new expectations from the audience & peers, all while keeping the respect for the instrument construction. Considering gut strings were very much regular set up still in the 1940s, where should the conversation start; from the audience? From musicians? From the luthiers? This talk is to provide the basis to start on this path hand-in-hand together. Daniela will share an overview of the main changes in gut strings production focusing on when and why they happened and what did this mean for strings set up, using violin as the main example.

3:55pm - 4:25pm – NY
9:55pm - 10:25pm – Italy

International Women In Lutherie Fellowship's Inaugural Year Journey

with Jennifer Creadick

Jennifer will share individual stories of the women involved in the inaugural trial run of International Women In Lutherie Fellowship, and their collective journey through this extraordinary community effort to create a new, annual platform for collaborative mentorship/internship/leadership growth opportunities for women around the globe together.

10:00am - 11:30am – NY
4:00pm - 4:30pm – Italy

Violin Restoration - Getting Texture Right

with Iris Carr

In this presentation Iris will talk about the importance of getting the varnish texture right when approaching a repair on an instrument.

11:10am - 11:40am – NY
5:10pm - 5:40pm – Italy

Ergonomics & Injury Prevention for Woodworkers

with Woodworker Rehab, founder Tamar Katz

Come for a short presentation and 10 minutes of light exercises targeted towards the most used body parts of luthiers. We will go over common ergonomic considerations, common injuries to watch out for, and go through a series of exercises that help prevent those injuries.

12:00pm - 12:30pm – NY
6:00pm - 6:30pm – Italy

Global Ecosystems and Materials used for Musical Instruments & Lutherie

with Silke Lichtenberg

Silke will give an overview on the interconnection of natural materials used for making musical instruments and global ecosystems focusing on endangered tree species, string instruments and guitars in the context of global environmental change. She will demonstrate the extent to which the tradition of musical instrument making is linked to almost all of the world's ecosystems, and in how far this reciprocal linkage leads to threats to both nature and musical instrument making, which is why the preservation of both ultimately depends on the conservation of endangered ecosystems.

12:35pm - 1:15pm – NY
6:35pm - 7:15pm – Italy

Writing Declarations Of Materials & organizing CITES Certificates for musicians

with Janine Wildhage

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments, created to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of species. Learn how to properly document and declare the materials in your instruments with Janine.

1:20pm - 1:40pm – NY
7:20pm - 7:40pm – Italy

Lockdown Luthier: A Self-learning Plan

with Yasmeen Husain

Yasmeen discovered a passion for lutherie. She had a goal, hand-tools and a dining table. She put together a two year, multi-project, self-learning plan to develop the skills she needs to build guitars that sound good, are aesthetically pleasing and play well. A year on, Yasmeen will share her personal experience of navigating her plan to-date, some of the lessons she learnt and how these changed her future learning objectives.

2:30pm - 3:00pm – NY
8:30pm - 9:00pm – Italy

Closing Session

with Jennifer Creadick and Jeemin Morgan Kim

Officially wrapping up the 3 day conference, making space for reflection and gratitude, celebrating what we all have achieved together. Closing remarks by Jeemin Morgan Kim, Performances by women played on instruments made by women, Where to connect with other women & continue the conversation.

See you at next year's conference!

4:30 - 5:00pm – NY
9:30 - 10:00pm – Italy