A Beautiful American Viola by Luke Eliot, 2024. 409mm or 16 1/8”

Luke Eliot operates an independent workshop in Ceder Lakes, Indiana, where he focuses on instruments of the violin family. He worked in cabinetry before joining the repair team and eventually managing the shop at Plum Grove Music in Hebron, Indiana for 9 years and until 2017. After which, Luke attended and graduated from The Chicago School Of Violinmaking, where his principal mentors were Antoine Nedelec, Fred Thomson, and Becky Elliott. An adept restorer with more than 15 years of experience, the growing demand for his instruments now has Luke devoted mostly to new making, and of course, his family.

This beautiful viola by Chicago graduate, Luke Eliot was crafted in 2024 and is further noted as his 27th instrument. It features a beautiful slab-cut single piece back measuring 409mm or 16 1/8”, and tightly flamed ribs, with a similar selection for the headstock, with a single-piece spruce top. The work is clean and highly characterful, highlighting the balance between precision and tasteful, well executed antiquing which already demonstrates a highly developed personal style. Its voice is immediately direct, but broad and colorful with a crisp, clean quality to articulations and dynamic changes.