15 7/8" Peter Bingen viola, Portland, Oregon 2010

Peter Bingen was born in Los Angeles and raised in the American Midwest. A strong passion for art and a career in woodworking led him to the North Bennet Street School in Boston, where he graduated from the Violin Making and Repair Program in 2006. After graduation, he subsequently worked for violin makers David Gusset and Andrew Carruthers.

Peter currently works from his studio in Minneapolis, MN where he makes new instruments and performs restorations, repairs, and setup work. His own instrument models include violins based on Stradivari and Guarneri, Brescian-style violas, and Venetian model cellos. He received a Certificate of Merit for violin tone from the Violin Society of America Competition in 2006 and First Prize from the Art of Sound Competition in 2012.