About Colin Garrett BEM

While working for a firm of solicitors in Cambridge in 1968 Colin saw an evening-class schedule advertising classes in violin-making.  As someone who played the violin and loved woodwork, this seemed an obvious class to join.  It was taught by the doyenne of women English violin makers, the late Juliet Barker MBE.  Having left Cambridge, Colin was unable to attend the evening classes but eventually finished his first violin after a series of Easter and Summer courses in the Cambridge workshop.  It was a great success and has been played professionally in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At that point Colin was hooked and for many years he spent a week of his holiday entitlement working in the Cambridge workshop on a second violin, two violas, and two small cellos. 

Shortly after it was founded, Colin joined the British Violin Making Association (BVMA).  In their newsletter the BVMA asked if anyone had any knowledge of the Data Protection Act as it would impinge on their membership records.  Colin offered advice and was soon appointed Membership Secretary.  He then computerised the records in compliance with the Act.   When the then treasurer emigrated to NZ, Colin volunteered to take over that job and found another amateur maker to take on the membership secretary job. 

In 1998 the BVMA held an exhibition “400 years of British Violin Making” at the Royal Academy of Music.  Out of this grew a substantial and expensive book containing research and photos of all the violins exhibited.  The BVMA management committee talked at length about how this should be sold, what sort of vehicle should be used   - all without any commercial or legal knowledge.  Colin confessed what he did for a living and offered to set up BVMA Enterprises, a company limited by guarantee, to carry in the commercial activities of the BVMA and thus keep the Association away from HMRC.  During the years that he managed the company four books were published and suitable arrangement made for their storage and shipment.  Colin was made an Honorary Life Member of the BVMA in recognition of his services to the Association. In 2022 Colin was nominated by the BVMA to receive an award as Volunteer of the Year from the Heritage Crafts Association and in 2023 he received a British Empire Medal for services to violin making. 

Colin had decided that, in retirement, he would try to attend the Newark School of Violin Making to do the full professional course.  Retirement came earlier than he expected and, having recovered his health, Colin went to NSVM for three years from September 2000.  At a BVMA conference in Dartington he met the then chairman of the Rowan Armour-Brown Memorial Trust Fund (RAB Trust) who asked him whether he would consider becoming a trustee.  The Trust provides help to student violin makers in the way of financial grants and arranging work placements with professional makers.  Colin thought that he should not be making a judgment on fellow students but agreed to become a trustee as soon as he finished at NSVM.  He was soon appointed treasurer; a position that he held for 18 years. 

During that time the Trust was offered the contents of the workshop of a deceased violin-maker.  From that evolved a system for clearing workshops, sorting and pricing the tools, wood etc and holding a sale to the students at NSVM.  The students acquired good tools at a knock-down price: the Trust got some money with which to make further financial grants.  For many years Colin conducted all the workshop clearances and held all the tool sales. 

Colin’s first-year tutor at NSVM is a leading light in Luthiers sans Frontieres (LSF) who offer free training missions of two to three weeks in countries where there are no skilled repairers of instruments and bows of the violin family.  Colin soon became treasurer and arranged for LSF and the RAB Trust to be registered charities thereby increasing their income from Gift Aid.  Colin has successfully raised funds for both charities. 

In 2009 Colin incorporated Oxford Musical Instrument Publishing LLP to publish and sell a complete catalogue of the musical instrument collection of the Ashmolean Museum.  The editor and authors were known to Colin from his previous experience of book publishing with the BVMA and they asked him to manage the business.  The book is a large format with hundreds of very good photographs and the latest research on all the instruments.   It was sold on subscription with buyers getting a good discount on the RRP if they put up their money and waited about one year for delivery.  The de luxe edition with quarter leather binding was sold out before it was even printed !  Hundreds of books were sold from Canada to New Zealand and from Finland to Argentina.  The book won a prize from the Music Publishers Association. 

Colin has stopped making instruments and is trying to retire gracefully but still does the odd repair when asked to do so.