Lecture Night The Art of Violin Making

Martin Erben explores the world of Violin Making together with the Violin Class of our Artistic Director, Vadim Gluzman. Join us for a night of violin making, friendly conversations, and learning!

BIO 

Martin Erben (1979) started his violin making career in Mittenwald in 2001. His father Peter Erben (a renowned violin maker) inspired him to pursue this path. After completing his studies, Martin ventured into the workforce & served as an Ambulance Driver for a year.

From 2003 to 2007, Martin spent his time in Cremona refining his restoration skills under the guidance of Bruce Carlson from the firm 'Carlson and Neumann'. During these years, Martin  helped Carlson carry out preservation work on instruments from the Cremonese makers of the 18th century. Martin was also involved in several exhibitions (i.e. I violoncelli di Antonio Stradivari, Opera omnia di Andrea Amati).

Between 2007 and 2011, Martin worked as the workshop manager of 'Marcel Richters' in Vienna. During his time at Richters, Martin was given the role of restorer/curator of instruments, for the Austrian National Bank (ÖNB). He also maintained and restored instruments for Heinrich Schiff, Julian Rachlin, Rainer Honeck, the Alban Berg Quartet, the Hagen Quartet, and all the major orchestras of Austria.

In 2011, Martin Erben took his master exam and took up the position as Head Restorer/Maker at the Erben Geigenbau.

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Martin's responsibilities lie not only with restoration work, but equally with sound adjustment and setup work. His goal is to provide musicians with the right setup so they can express themselves without any opposing tension. He understands that conventional measurements do not always work with everyone, so together with the musician, Martin works to achieve their ideal setup, whilst keeping their instruments in a constructively healthy  state.

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Martin is also the Head Luthier of the Bay Area Musicians Society (San Jose).