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Honorary Fellow: Association For Scottish Literary Studies

“If we investigate only by physical and chemical means, we can only get physical and chemical answers.”

Sir Alister Hardy, FRS

This first small viola was entered in the 1984 Facta Britannia string-instrument competition, where it won an award for Tone.

“with the exception of one Carcassi, this is the best small viola I have ever put a bow across” John Underwood, violist, Delmé Quartet.

The leading Scottish violist, Watson Forbes, agreed to put it to his own test at his home near the Cotswolds. Watson was an enthusiast for the potential that small violas could offer [The Strad, December 1977] and responded very encouragingly to this latest development, offering to be further involved in the future.

The viola was then on extended loan for musical evaluation to the Yehudi Menuhin School. It was returned to me with a letter from the pupil who had been using it, James Boyd, who offered some helpful critical comment on its set-up and stringing; he also volunteered the personal opinion that this first viola I had made equalled the school Testore. The Testore family were minor makers in the Italian classical period of luthery.