Alastair made his first violin while a student at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester when he was fourteen. As a young violinist he had been watching a teacher, Gerald Littlewood make a violin and had been fascinated. One day he plucked up enough courage to ask: ‘Could I make a violin too sir?’ Fortunately Gerald agreed and Alastair spent evenings and weekends at school working on it. It was a year-long voyage of discovery and after lots of mistakes, some hidden, others rather more obvious, it was finished.
Despite this violin’s shortcomings the sound was very good. Strong on the lower strings and clear in the upper register. So make one violin and you can make many, the process is the largely the same (although practise develops better, more efficient and more accurate methods) that was it – he was hooked!
Alastair went on to study the violin at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Walter Jorysz.
A lifetime later and violin making is still a passion. Alastair makes violins and violas inspired by the models of the Cremonese masters: Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri, Rogeri and Guadagnini. Further, he has attended courses in France run by François Perego on varnish making and historical methods of varnishing. He uses only the finest woods available and produces instruments with a consistency of excellent sound.
At Chets.
Above violin number one in progress.
Below playing to Menuhin in 1968
