The Violin Making School of America; Peter Prier; Paul Hart
In the fall of 1974 I enrolled at the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. I was a student of Paul Hart, and Peter Prier. There was no bow making school in Salt Lake at that time and we learned little about them, but the tool skills as well as the hand and eye development that I acquired at school were an important foundation of skills that I have relied on as a bow maker.

The other significant influence on my career from the Salt Lake experience involves the people I worked with there. Many at the school at that time have gone on to distinguish themselves in different aspects of the violin world. Some of the best violin makers working today, as well as restorers and shop owners were at the Salt Lake School in the mid seventies. Going to violin making school enriched me with some of my most significant lifelong friendships, as well as deep connections in the violin business.

Frank Passa; David Gusset; Reid Kowallis
My interest in bows developed while at school. I was curious about this related field that was also separate from violin making. It seemed somewhat mysterious as there few opportunities to learn bow making at that time in the United States. This interest is what influenced my choice of job after I finished school. In Dec. of 1977 when I completed school, there were open positions in the best shops on New York and Philadelphia, but Frank Passa in San Francisco was interested in training people to make bows.… Read the rest