The Violin Society of America Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

By Cliff Hall | From the November-December issue of Strings magazine

The tradition was fading away. In the mid-1970s, newspapers were running headlines like “Art of Violin Making Slips into Sad State in America” when the craft as a generational affair had largely become extinct. “It’s an end to the educational process,” said Eric Chapman to the Lansing State Journal in 1976.

Chapman had co-founded the American Society for the Advancement of Violin Making in 1973 to address the primary challenge facing dedicated stringed instrument makers and musicians in the US: there were very few American-born violin making experts. While many European masters were welcomed into the US earlier in the century, a number of them later moved on to work for prominent instrument manufacturers in large cities. As a result, many traditional practices began to fade away. Beyond the dearth of new instrument makers, Chapman also observed a noticeable decline in the quality of restoration.

“You wouldn’t believe the number of good instruments that have been ruined in this country because of the incompetence of repair people,” said Chapman. With the twofold mission of supporting both the creation and restoration of stringed instruments, the organization had a solid foundation but needed a new name fairly soon after its inception.

“The American Society for the Advancement of Violin Making described very well those factors that had led to our creation and our goals, but now our goals were expanding, so the name no longer completely described us. Furthermore, such a name promised us a membership that was primarily violin makers and restorers, who in those days made a group which one could fit comfortably into a one-bedroom apartment, and our ambitions were already well beyond that,” wrote Philip J. Kass about the organization’s rebranding to the Violin Society of America (VSA) in the 2022 edition of The Scroll, the membership magazine of VSA. “We needed to appeal to an audience that spanned the entire world of violins and their music, open to historians, collectors, and simple lovers of the sounds of a stringed instrument, and this was what the name change would do.”

But there were other forces at work driving this initial urgency as well.

“When both Wurlitzer and Lewis closed their doors around 1972–73, many of the collectors worried that quality restoration might no longer be passed on. Dr. Albert Kaplan, the founder, was one of these, and he pulled together many other collectors and dealers to form the core membership,” writes Kass over email. “Eric Chapman, the other founder, was much more interested in modern instrument making. He started the [instrument making] competitions.”

Kass, a former board member of the VSA and a Pennsylvania-based stringed instrument appraiser, emphasizes the importance of the contests.

“Within a few years of the competitions’ beginnings, there were truly world-class American-born-and-trained violin makers who were now being recognized and thus were starting to have successful careers as a result of the attention and exposure they received from the competition. It became a must-enter for foreign makers as a result,” writes Kass. “It’s a bit like the celebrity Napa cabernet received when it beat out the French Bordeaux at that 1970s wine competition in Paris. That brought fame and respect to American wine making in the same way as our competition did for American luthiers.”

With the biennial competition now in its 25th year, frequent judge Christopher Germain reflected about the nature of the tournament in a 2017 issue of The Scroll.

“Keep in mind that a violin making competition is essentially a beauty contest, reflecting the tastes and preferences of the jury. Also bear in mind that every aspect of your instrument, including the arching, scroll, purfling, f-holes, and varnish, will be scored numerically,” wrote Germain. “Many competitors often wonder how a contest that uses a numerical scoring system can adequately reflect artistic excellence. In reality, it can’t. However, most scoring systems are weighted in certain areas, with a large portion of the score categories as ‘overall impression,’ cohesiveness, or artistic excellence. This part reflects how the various elements of the instrument work together harmoniously, allowing the judge to give weight to an instrument that has a true flow and beauty, which goes beyond mere technical merit.”

Winning a medal at this competition can lead to more exposure as it can attract dealers to showcase the maker’s work. An integral part of the VSA’s membership, dealers serve as the conduit between makers and players by consigning new work in their stores. This offers a player the chance to audition instruments by lesser-known names and then “skip the line” of waiting for a new instrument to be completed.

By 1976, the VSA had attracted about 400 members dedicated to reviving the trade in the United States as they prepared for an exhibition, “American Violins of the Past,” at the University of Pennsylvania, which was held in connection with the nation’s Bicentennial Celebration. Fifty years after its founding, with now about roughly 1,000 members, the VSA is celebrating its golden jubilee by looking to both the future and the past.

“I can’t imagine the VSA 50 years from now, but the next decade or so appears to be full of promise. The organization is set up to run smoothly, with ‘many hands making lighter work,’” writes past VSA president Marilyn Wallin in an email. “The committees are active and are a healthy mixture of volunteers who have various amounts of time served. The future of the VSA is indeed bright because of the expanding and strengthening of its educational programs.”

Taking place in Indianapolis from Sunday, November 17 to Friday, November 22, this year’s convention will be a rich offering of experiences, organized by Kristin Siegfried Ballenger and Brandon Godman.

“The Rare Instrument Exhibit, with us since 2010, will feature works of the Amati family. I love that we are going back to the Renaissance roots of our field as we mark where we are now,” writes Wallin. “An exhibit of Marchneukirchen instruments by Bruce Babbitt and Brandon Godman will help us appreciate how these familiar fine instruments fit in history and will be accompanied by the release of another great book from Bruce, which will be available. The New Instrument Exhibit, larger in recent years and taking on a life of its own in the hands of Itzel Ávila, will include the works of contemporary makers.”

Augustin Hadelich will be closing out the convention with a special recital. Although his 2006 win at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis connects him locally, Hadelich’s participation is driven by his belief in the core mission of the VSA. “I believe that modern violin making is the future,” says Hadelich. “I own several modern instruments myself (for example, by the German luthier Philipp Augustin, the Swiss-Italian maker Michel Eggimann and the American luthier Mario Miralles). 

“While my main instrument is the beautiful 1744 ‘Leduc’ Guarneri del Gesù, and I love that instrument above anything, I think that the craftsmanship and understanding behind contemporary violin making has come such a long way in recent decades that trying and collecting modern instruments has become very exciting!

“I found it a lot of fun to be part of the creation of a new instrument—talking about it, watching it being made, trying it for the first time.”

As the Paris Double-Blind Violin Experiment in 2012 demonstrated, violinists frequently struggle to differentiate between the sound of a renowned Stradivari or Guarneri del Gesù and a well-crafted modern violin, leading some to question the assumption that older violins are always tonally superior. Hadelich sees this as well.

“The best modern violins are a perfectly viable (and often superior) alternative to many of the other old makers, whose prices have skyrocketed in recent years,” writes Hadelich. “Why spend $400,000 on an old Italian instrument if you can find a modern violin for $40,000 that you like even more? The point isn’t to replace Stradivari and Guarneri right now but rather to support a culture of violin making out of which the next great makers can eventually emerge. We might only truly know 100 years from now who made the greatest instruments of our time.”

The VSA’s 50th anniversary isn’t just a milestone; it’s a launchpad into the next era of violin making and restoration. With a rich history and a clear vision for the future, the VSA continues to shape the craft, inspire innovation, and foster a vibrant community. As they gather in Indianapolis, members old and new will celebrate how far they’ve come—and chart the course for what’s yet to be created.