About

Andrew Ryan's violins are in the hands of orchestral musicians and soloists around the world. As a violinist himself, he has an explicit and tactile understanding of the relationship between player and instrument. Each new instrument is informed by the particular player's needs and never fails to be appreciated for its ease of response, warmth, and large, clear voice.

Trained at the Violin Making School of America, Andrew is a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers. He has published articles in The Strad and essays on the work of Giuseppe Guarneri "del Gesù," lectured at conferences, and taught violin making at The Violin Society of America's Oberlin Workshops. As workshop foreman at Reuning and Son Violins in Boston from 1994 to 2011 he oversaw the restoration of many fine and important instruments.

Since leaving Reuning and Son Violins, Andrew has devoted himself to acoustic research and the creation of new instruments. Well versed in the working methods of the Cremonese masters, he has been augmenting these practices with an array of analytic methods both acoustic and geometric. These inquiries extend analog methods of modal and material analysis in the digital realm using Finite Element Analysis software and rigorous documentation of a multitude of metrics. These processes inform his multifaceted understanding of both the built works of the classical masters, his own completed works, and all aspects of his future projects.