Some of Nathaniel Bruner’s earliest memories of his grandmother involve her playing the violin.
“She lived with us. When I was 2, I said I wanted to play like her,” said Bruner, who not only learned to play the instrument, but now teaches strings lessons, makes violins and restores antique ones at Antique Violins of Augusta.
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Jonathan Clark started the business about four years ago. Clark has played the violin since he was 8, and he wanted to share that love for the instrument with a younger generation by offering strings lessons to children.
Because Augusta-Richmond County offers a strings program to area students, that idea didn’t take off like Clark thought it would. While they offer strings lessons on site, Clark discovered there was a need for violin repair and a market for handcrafted violins.
Repairing violins and making new ones require the same skills.
“When you repair a violin, you are replicating the original,” said Bruner.
And they are made in the same way they’ve been made for centuries. The instruments are fashioned from spruce or maple, and the details must be perfect.
In some types of carpentry, millimeters don’t matter, but with a violin, the slightest degree off could result in poor sound quality, said Aubrey Bruner, who works with her husband in the shop. The couple met when Aubrey inquired about apprenticing at the shop.
Located at 222 2nd St. in a former grocery store, the shop has a large space for Clark and the Bruners to work on violins. There’s also a room that houses some of the older violins and can be used as a teaching space. While the name says “violin,” the shop also repairs violas and cellos. Lessons are also available in viola and cello.
Clark said it takes between 200 and 300 hours to create a violin. It took him about two years to build his first violin.
On Jan. 22, Clark hosted concert celebrating some of the first violins made in Augusta. The concert featured Dr. Laura Tomlin, director of orchestras at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School and assistant concertmaster for the Augusta Symphony. Because of COVID, only limited in-person seating was available, so the performance was livestreamed on the Antique Violins of Augusta’s Facebook page. The recording is available there.
To learn more about Antique Violins of Augusta, call (706) 819-5530 or (706) 814-3840 or visit www.antiqueviolinsofaugusta.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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