I am a 32 year old maker and restorer of bowed instruments, based in Oslo. It's a wonderful place to work, with a rich cultural life and a great tradition for string playing.
I started out in violin making about 1997. After my first apprenticeship in the workshop of Hornaas in Oslo I went abroad and trained as a maker at the IPIALL violin making school in Cremona where I received the Ferraroni scholarship, and graduated with distinction in 2002. After working for a while with award-winning violin maker Alessandro Voltini in Italy, I returned to Norway and worked in my own small workshop in Bergen, collaborating with musicians and students from all over Norway.
The first years on my own I had a small atelier in the USF Verftet art and cultural centre. Later on I rented some more spacious rooms from the Carte Blanche dance company. In that larger space I was able to develop the interest I had taken in restoration. In the spring of 2007 I moved to Oslo, were I now work from a small but efficient studio in the central Majorstuen area.
In order to maintain my professional development, I take part in the BVMA and the Norwegian violin makers association, and when time permits, try to spend some time in other workshops, as well as inviting colleagues to work with me at least once a year, to get new inspiration. I divide my time between restoration and maintenance, baroque/classical conversion, and new making.
