A Great American Violin By 7th Generation Maker, Hannah Fenn - 2023.

Hannah Fenn is a seventh generation maker from the Gläsel family from Markneukirchen. After earning a degree in Arts with emphasis in drawing and painting at Ohio University, Hannah moved to New York and worked for Glasser Bows in the Bronx. She then delved into a six month repair study with her cousin Kurt Gläsel in Gelsenkirchen, Germany before starting at the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2015. Starting February of 2018, Hannah apprenticed with Jordan Hess for two years and then continued working alongside him as a colleague at Sugarhouse Violins, where she focuses on new making and has already accrued a wait list for her characterful, well-voiced instruments. 

This modern American violin by Hannah Fenn, numbered 21, was commissioned by Cohen Violins and completed in February of 2024. Patterned after Guarneri, this characterful violin immediately impresses balance between mastery in craftsmanship and personal style, demonstrating a delicate outline with broader edge work and deep, consistent channeling that transitions seamlessly into the arching of the plates: two piece back of tight, pronounced flame, with somewhat simpler wood selection for the ribs and headstock - a choice that highlights the subtle textures of tasteful antiquing and draws the eye to the execution of the volutes and rounded eye of the scroll; again, balance between the cleanly ebonized chamfers and authentic-feeling wear to the back of the head. Tight even grained spruce for the face, with even fluting through the lower wings of the f’s and softer ‘whitening’ to the edge work.