Featured Maker: Raymond Melanson

Raymond Melanson is a Graduate of the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City and studied with famed restorer Hans Nebel. After graduation, he established the violin making program at North Bennet Street School in Boston.

During his 30 years experience, he has built nearly three hundred instruments. Most of his violins are based on a Guarneri model, with a combination of features from the late-model del Gesu owned by Joseph Silverstein, and Itzhak Perlman's del Gesu from 1743. His instruments are played by professionals and advanced students of all ages.

Melanson has won over a dozen awards at past Violin Society of America competitions. Among these, three of them are silver medals for tone.

Melanson builds and varnishes his instruments in the early Italian tradition using a reddish brown oil resin shaded over a golden amber oil ground, which he tastefully and lightly antiques. Melanson's instruments produce a full, even, and expansive sound that projects well.