Faculty

Instrument repair

Christopher Germain (Instrument Repair Level II) makes award-winning violins, violas, and cellos from his studio in center city Philadelphia. He studied under Tschu ho Lee at the Chicago School of Violin Making. After graduating in 1985, he went on to specialize in restoration work at the Chicago firms Kenneth Warren & Son and Bein & Fushi before opening his own studio in 1991. He is past president of the American Federation of Violin and Bowmakers and is currently the president of the Violin Society of America. Christopher also directs the renowned Stringed Instrument Maker’s Workshop at Oberlin College. He has lectured and demonstrated his craft at venues around the world.

Christopher Moore (Instrument Repair Level I) established his workshop in 2001 after several years’ work repairing and restoring fine stringed instruments in Chicago violin shops. He is a graduate of the Chicago School of Violin Making, which is known for its emphasis on teaching quality craftsmanship in the tradition of the 17th and 18th century classical masters. While Moore’s focus is handcrafting new cellos, he continues to repair and restore stringed instruments at his workshop in Madison.

Fretted instrument repair

Wil Bremer has repaired and restored instruments professionally for more than 40 years. He is founder and co-owner of Spruce Tree Music and Repair in Madison, where he has specialized in repair and restoration of both new and vintage stringed instruments since 1980. Mr. Bremer’s style and philosophy of repair and restoration stem from an interest in and respect for the original intentions of the builders on whose instruments he works.

Bow repair

David Orlin trained originally with bowmaker William Salchow and vioinmakers David Burgess and Mark Norfleet. After several years working in Minneapolis, Madison, and Seattle, he returned to Ann Arbor in 1989, where he has a bow making and restoration studio. He was elected to the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers in 1996. Orlin taught bow repair at the National String Instrument Repair Clinics in the 1990s, and since 2003 has taught bow restoration at the Violin Society of America’s Stringed Instrument Maker’s Workshop at Oberlin College. He has contributed several articles to The Conservation, Restoration, and Repair of Stringed Instruments and Their Bows (Tom Wilder, ed) and frequently consults and lectures on bows and bowmaking.

Harp maintenance

Jennifer Ruggieri is a member of the Lyon & Healy/Salvi Technicians Guild and has been regulating harps since 2007. She has performed regulations for Chicago College of the Performing Arts, Indiana University in Bloomington, DePauw University, Purdue University, and Carnival Cruises, in addition to many privately owned instruments around the country. She is also a freelance harpist and teacher serving the Chicago metropolitan area and surrounding locations.