Thurmond Knight
Maker of Violins, Violas and Cellos

Thurmond Knight at his violin workbench
tkbench.JPG (79298 bytes)

       Thurmond Knight's violin shop sits on 160 acres of woods and meadows in Glover, Vermont. Here, he builds violins, violas and cellos, all by hand. From 1992 until 2000, Thurmond was  German Master Maker Karl Roy's teaching assistant at the Violin Craftsmanship Institute, University of New Hampshire, Durham.
  
      Owning a full time violin shop in Montpelier, Vermont,  Thurmond operated an instrument rental program, performed repairs and restorations and made new instruments. In 1995, the retail business was sold when he and his family moved to their Glover farm.  
 
      A cellist, Thurmond studied with Virginia Bradley, former principal cellist of the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra.  Later he worked with
Linda Galvan, cellist with the ensemble Camerata New England.  Thurmond's final teacher was John Dunlop who at the time was principal cellist of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. 

      For ten years, Thurmond was a member of the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra located in Barre, Vermont.  He performed with the Chandler String Quartet for almost 10 years, and then with Wynden Strings Trio, with harpist Jenny Mayor and flutist Sarah Elizabeth Kinsley.  Former principal cellist of the Richie Community Orchestra on Florida's west coast, and former principal cellist of Newport Area Community Orchestra, he presently plays in the Northeast Kingdom as a soloist with piano accompanists Janice Luce and Catherine MacMaster.
 
      Thurmond became interested in violin repair and violinmaking when his own cello suffered severe damage and was taken to a local
luthier.  Always interested in wood working, Thurmond asked  where one might learn the trade and was directed to the violinmaking program at the University of New Hampshire.  He began attending the sessions that same year and a whole new career was born!

     

[Picture]
Master maker Karl Roy,
carving a violin scroll,
with Thurmond looking on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Thurmond

Woods and Materials

Instruments
for Sale

Hand made instruments

Models

Commission

 

Musicians

Purchasing

Links

Contact

HOME