Winter 2026
In February it was time again for the yearly BVMA Makers' Day. At this event violin and bow makers of Britain and beyond gather at Kings Place in London to display their work for musicians, students, colleagues and anyone interested to see and try.
The atmosphere was very lively, exciting and noisy, with musicians trying instruments and people meeting and catching up. There were 41 Maker's tables and with many of them being shared that amounted to about 60 makers exhibiting their work. Added to that were also several stands of connected trade, such as magazines, strings, fittings, musical instrument insurance, charities, schools and wood dealers.
A much anticipated part of the day is the lunchtime concert by the Kreutzer Quartet, played on instruments and bows selected by the Quartet out of the work of exhibitors that day. This is followed by a popular Q&A session with the Kreutzer Quartet for members of the audience.
This year Philip of Philip Brown Violins in Newbury and I shared Table 6 at Makers' Day. It was a jolly occasion, and we were both happy to find one of our instruments and bows selected for the concert.
The atmosphere was very lively, exciting and noisy, with musicians trying instruments and people meeting and catching up. There were 41 Maker's tables and with many of them being shared that amounted to about 60 makers exhibiting their work. Added to that were also several stands of connected trade, such as magazines, strings, fittings, musical instrument insurance, charities, schools and wood dealers.
A much anticipated part of the day is the lunchtime concert by the Kreutzer Quartet, played on instruments and bows selected by the Quartet out of the work of exhibitors that day. This is followed by a popular Q&A session with the Kreutzer Quartet for members of the audience.
This year Philip of Philip Brown Violins in Newbury and I shared Table 6 at Makers' Day. It was a jolly occasion, and we were both happy to find one of our instruments and bows selected for the concert.
Thank you to the volunteers of the BVMA Festival Team, who make this event every year again a success.
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Traditionally, Makers' Day is also the day when the management committee of Luthiers sans Frontieres-UK ('Violin Makers without Borders -UK') has one of their two annual meetings. LSF-UK is a registered charity that offers free training sessions of 2-3 weeks in countries where there are no skilled repairers of instruments and bows of the violin family. This time several projects were discussed, one of which was a mission to a workshop in The Philippines which is taking place in late February 2026, which I am very happy to take part in. Please keep an eye on the What's On button on this website to read more about this exciting trip soon.
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