Violin Making and Repair
Alexandria, VA
Richard Maxham has spent his life with the violin. The fifth generation in his family to make or play the instrument, he began playing at the age of three and performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral violinist. As he grew up, he also watched his grandfather make, repair, and adjust violins. While at St. John’s College in Annapolis, he cultivated an interest in violin repair and making. After inheriting his grandfather’s tools, wood, patterns, and violin book library, he began the lifelong process of studying all aspects of the violin world. He attended the University of New Hampshire’s Violin Craftsmanship Institute summer workshops for repair, restoration, and varnishing as well as the Violin Society of America’s violin restoration, acoustics, and bow restoration summer workshops at Oberlin College.
After graduating from college, he apprenticed with Daniel Smith of Lynchburg, Virginia, and learned to make violins. Smith taught him a foundational understanding of the craft, and Maxham continued to work in the repair workshops of Potter Violins, Violin House of Weaver (which he still supports), and Day Violins. In 2019, he established his own business, Maxham Violins, to focus on violin repair and restoration and bow rehairing. To date, he has worked with players of all abilities and styles, including members of the Washington National Opera House orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Marine, Army, and Air Force Strings, and many local orchestras in the Washington, DC area. Maxham and Smith have maintained a friendship and knowledge exchange over the years, and the Virginia Folklife Program is supporting Maxham in apprenticing with Daniel Smith in 2022-2023. During their time together this coming year, Maxham hopes to focus on his violin making and restoration practice. Maxham will be in the Instrument Makers Workshop in the Virginia Folklife Area on Saturday and Sunday and playing in the Instrument Makers Jam on the Center for Cultural Vibrancy Virginia Folklife Stage on Sunday.