15 1/2" Andrew Ryan viola, Providence 2013

Violin maker Andrew Ryan studied classical composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before his interest in the art and craft of making instruments led him to enroll at the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. While he was completing his program at the VMSA, he worked in the repair shop of the school's director, Peter Paul Prier. Upon graduation, Ryan temporarily relocated to London where he worked with Adam Whone and Edward Withers, Ltd, later returning stateside to serve as workshop manager at Reuning & Son Violins in Boston.

Ryan is a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers and has served as an instructor at the Violin Society of America's Oberlin Workshops. He is a frequent lecturer at violin making conferences, a consultant with Reuning & Son Violins, and a published author in The Strad, where his articles on the work of Guarneri del Gesù have appeared.

Ryan builds new instruments according to the methods of the great Cremonese masters, his own instincts as an active violinist himself, and his ongoing acoustical research. His instruments have won multiple awards including a silver medal for workmanship and certificates for artisanship and tone at past Violin Society of American competitions. They are owned and appreciated by orchestral musicians and soloists around the world.