AS02/ 06 Circa 1990, hand made by William Piper 16.1″ viola. Guarneri model. With Larsen strings. Sound sample.

Two-piece back of highly figured maple with matching ribs and neck. Front of close-grained spruce. Amber-brown varnish. Boxwood pegs with white collar and pips. Boxwood chinrest and end pin.

William Piper was born in 1948 in  West Bromwich, West Midlands. He started playing the violin aged nine and right from that early time wanted to be a violin maker. In 1964, he left school, aged 16 years old, and was apprenticed to Sydney Evans violin shop in Birmingham staying there for 12 years mainly as a repairer, but was taught violin making by David Evans. He made and sold his first violin when 18 in 1967.

He left Sydney Evans in 1977 and worked with the Musical Instrument Repair Company in Halesowen, West Midlands for 2 years then joined Thomas Smith Violins, the oldest established violin shop in Birmingham where he remained for 5 years as a maker and training other repairers.

From 1979 to 1992 he taught violin making at Colton Hills College in Wolverhampton teaching over 100 people.

In 1992, he moved to Droitwich, also in the West Midlands  and was invited to set up his workshop at the nearby Jinney Ring Craft Centre where he remained for 29 years. He is now semi-retired.

He estimates he has probably responsible  making and overseeing the making of 700 instruments, but not all will be accredited to him.