Violin Varnish Workshop Ltd. Workshops

Dear Friends,

With great pleasure, we are able to announce the lineup for our conference on 14-15 September in Oxford on the subject of Northern European Making of the Seventeenth Century, a conference that I hope will bring to light the very beautiful and remarkable instruments produced in this part of the world. It is a period that we tend to neglect to our detriment, allowing it to be overshadowed by the achievements of the Amatis and there immediate circle. 

In planning the conference, we want to put as much time as possible into round-table discussions because they are more engaging and better to follow. I have invited Marc Rosenstiel to speak about French making, Jan Strick from Brussels, Hubert de Launay to tackle Dutch making and the team of Honorata Stalmierska and Jan Bartos to talk about violin making in the Kingdom of Poland that extended as far as Krakow, to Lithuania. I have not been able to encourage anyone else to speak about seventeenth-century English making, so I hope to say something thoughtful and provocative myself. Lastly, Urs Langenbacher will be speaking about Füssen and it's influence that extends from training the lute-makers of Bologna to our own Jacob Rayman who settled in Southwark. 

We warmly invite everyone to our conference, whether you are a member of the BVMA or of another violin making society, so please share this email around your colleagues and invite them to come along. Tickets and further information can be found through the website at www.bvma.org.uk 

As always, Oxford offers really valuable accommodation out of term time with rooms from as little as £30 but do hurry to get the best offers. We really look forward to seeing you there. The Oxford conferences have proven to be a formidable social gathering in addition to learning something valuable each time. 

We will be having a small informal exhibition of instruments made before 1725. If you have any instrument that you propose bringing, please let us know in advance. 

I'm extremely grateful to The Soundpost, whose financial contribution to support the conference has made a significant contribution to the accommodation costs for our speakers. Financial support of this kind helps us to keep the costs down and produce a higher quality event for all our members. 

Please book your tickets quickly, it makes our lives so much happier if we aren't biting our nails waiting for the ticket sales to break even!

Yours sincerely

Benjamin Hebbert
Chairman, The British Violin Making Association