A selection of our instruments

The founder and inspiring associate professor of the NVS (born 1949) studied Musicology in Utrecht, specializing in musical instruments. By working at the Bouwerscontact (Vereninging Huismuziek) and making a violin himself, he decided in 1985 as an autodidact to promote his passion into a serious profession. In 2004, he got the grip of controlling the sound and he started the first summer course of the Dutch Violin Building School, where he can use his didactic skills with great pleasure to this day.

Leonie Walta (1975) has been a teacher at the Dutch Violin Making School since September 2024. She started building her own violin in 2017 and was very captivated by the versatility of the profession. She soon felt the desire to do more with it and since 2020 she has been working one day a week at Van der Knaap violin making in Baarn, where she does minor repairs and maintenance on string instruments and assists with major repairs and new construction. Leonie trained as a civil engineer, worked for some time as a draftsman and designer of concrete structures and obtained her PhD in 2011 in the field of intelligent vehicles. With this background, she works as a freelance science editor for traffic media. She has written two books: Een temperamentvolle kameraad – over de hobo (2019) and Verkeersverhalen en stationgedachten (2022). Leonie comes from a musical family and plays the piano and violin.

Berrie Hendriksen took his first steps in violin making at the age of 13! He drew his first construction drawing and made a top from a plank in his father's shed! A few years later he acquired a double bass in very poor condition and was persuaded by a well-known violin maker in The Hague to take on the repair himself. Around 2001 he got into conversation with violin and gamba maker Arjaan Westdorp (The Hague). He took him under his wing in a friendly but strict manner and he learned to perform all the necessary work. Early 2006 he came into contact with Edwin Katzie (in Neck). He also became an intern with him and in July 2007 he took over Katze's business. A long-cherished wish came true! Berrie's violin making business is now located in Twisk. For an extensive Bio we refer you to his site https://www.devioolbouwer.nl/about.
Berrie: In November 2024 I was asked to become a teacher at the SNVS and a month later I became a member of the team of teachers. It felt like coming home to come to the school and pass on the knowledge. So you see that a book and a double bass can ensure that you become a violin maker... and eventually a violin making teacher.