As a violinist, Pablo attended the Academie de Musique Gretry in Belgium, winning first place at the violin competition of that organization. He also studied at the National School of Music (UNAM) in Mexico. Pablo received the scholarship granted to by the Interlochen Festival, Michigan, USA. He was winner of the First National Competition for young soloists organized by the UNAM and over the years, has been a member of a number of symphony orchestras and string quartets as soloist and/or concertmaster in North America and Europe. He also has judged band and orchestra competitions in Mexico and USA. He is a self-taught painter and caricaturist and has presented exhibitions in Mexico and the USA.

George Blum is a native of Madison, Wisconsin, where he began his violin studies at the age of six. In 1989 he earned a degree in violin performance from the University of Arizona, having studied with John Ferrell, and during summers, with Roy Malan, concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet. While a student, he soloed with the University of Arizona Symphony, and in 1986 he joined the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. From 1990 to 1993 George interrupted his career with the TSO to enroll in the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City and study violin making under Peter Paul Prier. He received the title of Master Luthier upon graduation in 1993.George is a frequent chamber music performer in and around Tucson. He has also performed at festivals in Bellingham, Washington, Colorado and Utah. George has played three seasons with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has also done much studio recording in Salt Lake City.

In 1990 the TSO honored George with a grant to perform a recital with his pianist wife Cheryl Smith Blum in Guamuchil, Mexico. Now a Master Violin Maker, he continues handcrafting string instruments at his studio in Tucson. He also continues to refine his woodcrafting skills at various workshops throughout the country. His instruments have won recognition at the southern Arizona Violin Makers Competition. Mr. Blum plays a violin he made in his studio in Tucson.

 Frank Daniels, is the owner of Frank's Fiddles, located in Meridian, Idaho. Frank's handcrafted instruments are recognized for their ease of playability, their beautifully figured wood and their excellent tone, evenness, and projection. In addition to selling his handcrafted instruments, Frank does repair work and sells used instruments and violin accessories. Frank and his wife, Karen, have added another dimension to their business - Frank's Fiddle Shop on the road. The portable shop in the toy hauler enables Frank to do more repair work at festivals and to craft new instruments while on longer road trips.

Frank has won numerous tone awards for his instruments over the years, including the prestigious Bob Wallace Award In 1999 at the Violin Makers Association of Arizona, Intl. annual competition. This was for his 34th instrument, a steel-string violin, judged best in tone (by playing and listening judges) out of over 80 gut-string and steel- string violins.

Antonio Donato was born in Messina, Sicily, and raised in Genoa in Northern Italy. At a young age he returned to Sicily to continue his apprenticeship. He worked with Mr. Lentini, restoring bowed instruments. For years Antonio dedicated his time and craftsmanship to restorations and then to the art of violin and viola making. Antonio is well known in the art of lutherie and operates out of his shop in Long Island, New York. There he provides professional restoration on all bowed instruments and for years, several professionals have been playing his hand crafted instruments. He is a long time member of The Violin Society of America where he participates at the International Competition of Violin and Viola Making. He is also an active member of The Violin Makers Association of Arizona International, where he won several Certificates of Merit and first place gold medals for his violins and violas.

Dan Henderson started playing the violin when he was eight years old and soon realized that he liked to play and that he had perfect pitch. He was trained by Henry Kolar in San Diego. Dan also studied with Isaac Malcolm of the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He was introduced to the VMAAI about 1968 and has never missed a competition since! As a result of Dan’s vast and extensive playing experiences, he could quickly tell if an instrument in the competition was a good one, and for years, carried the responsibility of always being here, always being able to play and always having to face the daunting task of making each instrument sound as great as he could make it sound.

Dan retired as a playing judge in 2005 and as a result of his laudable efforts, was awarded the title of “Player Judge Emeritus”. While reviewing the last thirty-six years of Dan’s contributions to the Association, it is estimated that he has played about six thousand instruments.

Ray Leicht was employed as a career archaeologist with the US Department of the Interior for 34 years. His two daughters who played the violin in school in the 1980’s kindled his interest and fascination with violins In 1985, Ray constructed his first violin, and for many years this passion competed with Ray’s full-time job as an archaeologist. Ray’s techniques and building philosophy are an offshoot of the many years of inspiration and mentoring he received from the late Michael Scoggins, former instructor at the Violin Making School of America, in Salt Lake City.

Ray has been attending VMAAI competitions since 1987. He has served three terms on the VMAAI Board and currently serves on the Board as its Vice-President. Ray’s violins garnered first place scores in tone and in the “overall” category in previous VMAAI competitions, and in 2010, one of Ray’s violins received the prestigious Bob Wallace Trophy for the “Grand Champion Contest Winner.” Recently Ray became intrigued by the enduring mystique of Cremonese varnishes, and he relishes every opportunity to experiment with finishing techniques that emulate the Masters. In a very real way, resolving varnish questions is very akin to resolving archaeological issues, that is, trying to put missing pieces of a mysterious puzzle together.

Peter White was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He became interested in making violins when he saw his father’s violin which was originally purchased by his Belarussian grandfather, Pawel Voinilovitch, on the lower east side of New York City around 1920. After finishing his Ph.D. in 1976 in American Literature and American Religious History, Peter took a job as an assistant professor of English and American Studies at the University of New Mexico. In 1977, he met Sid Fleming who taught Peter to make two violins. The following year, Peter worked on a single violin under the close supervision of John Honeycutt. In 1980, Peter was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Poland, where he sought out two of the best violin makers in Poland: Jan Pawlikowski, and Rajmund Swirek. In the late 1980s, Peter formed a partnership with Katie Harlow and David Kurland to open Old World Violins. The shop specialized in the traditional methods of making fine violins, and they sold instruments to members of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, and similar orchestras throughout the country. Well- known folk musicians like Norman and Nancy Blake and Peter Ostrushko, and many others, bought the hand made violins, violas, and cellos from Old World Violins. As time moved on, Peter accepted several administrative assignments at the University of New Mexico, including Dean of University College and Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education; but throughout all this time, he continued to make violins, violas and cellos.

In 2008, Peter decided to return to the classroom at UNM full-time. In addition to English and American Studies, Peter teaches the history of the violin in New Mexico under a program he created, called the New Mexico Musical Heritage Project. Peter accepted nine undergrads and two graduate students into this program. In the fall of 2009, Peter and his students attended the 13th Triennial Antonio Stradivari Violin Makers Contest and Convention in Cremona, Italy. As an undergraduate in the 1960s, Peter listened to the records made by old-time Appalachian fiddle and banjo players and became fascinated with that culture, in particular with the violin, or fiddle. This past summer, he spent time in Vienna Austria teaching American folk music.