Joseph Curtin - Violinmaker

Joseph Curtin was born in 1953 in Toronto, Canada, to Viennese photographer Walter Curtin and British painter Isabel Kann. He began playing the violin at age twelve during a family sojourn in London, England. After studying violin performance at the University of Western Ontario, then music and philosophy at the University of Toronto, Curtin took up violinmaking under the guidance of Otto Erdesz. He subsequently worked as a violinmaker in Toronto, Paris, and Cremona. In 1985 Joseph Curtin and Gregg T. Alf established the firm of Curtin & Alf in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Twelve years later Curtin opened his own studios, where he currently designs and builds concert violins and violas for an international clientele.

Since 1985 Joseph Curtin has been actively involved in acoustical research. He collaborated with Gabriel Weinreich on the invention and development of the Reciprocal Bow (a computerized method of playing and evaluating violins), and is currently working with Charles Besnainou (Laboratoire d'Acoustiques Musicales, Paris) in developing high quality stringed instruments using carbon fiber composites.

Curtin has lectured on the art and science of violinmaking at universities and professional associations throughout America. He co-directs the VSA-Acoustics Workshop at Oberlin University. He is Trustee and Contributing Editor for the Catgut Acoustical Society, and a regular contributor to The Strad magazine. He lives with his wife, composer/choreographer Jesse Richards, and their three dogs on six acres along the Huron River near Ann Arbor.