Mary Jane Kwan grew up in Austin, Texas, playing the cello in a quintet of musical sisters. Her interest in lutherie started in architecture school, building a mandolin and electric bass. Unsatisfied with designing buildings by mouse clicks, MJ enrolled at the Chicago School of Violin Making, where she was taught by Becky Elliott, Fred Thompson, and Henni Hahn. She learned setup and repair at the A440 Violin Shop, and later furthered her studies in restoration at Reuning & Son. She is the illustrator of several ridiculous violin making comics, and author of one serious article in the Strad Magazine. She swings a tiny measurement hammer for science at the Oberlin and Villefavard Acoustics Workshop, and co-hosts an acoustics discussion group for Women in Lutherie. MJ is stationed in Brooklyn and focuses on new making and research in the workshop of Samuel Zygmuntowicz.
Updated: 2025-01-22