I haven't played the violin for a while, and I wasn't particularly good at it either. I have, however, maintained my interest in the instrument. That was thanks to Eugene Eberle Jr., whose workshop I often visited as an inquisitive child. He was not only a skilled violin maker but also a passionate talker. When he returned from France to buy instruments, he knew everything about the makers.
‘I search for fragments of a maker’s lifeand connect the dots’
Since 2019, I've been writing about violin and bow makers for the Netherlands Musical Instrument Foundation. As a biographer, I work almost like a detective. I search for fragments of a maker's life and connect the dots until I have a complete picture. Sometimes my own library suffices, but I usually conduct additional archival research both in the Netherlands and abroad.
I learned the biographical craft by writing about Margot Fonteyn, an English ballet dancer who led an interesting life. It hasn't been published yet, but perhaps some day...