JAVS Fall 2003

the nuts and bolts ofhis craft. Even before graduating, he was eager to enter the fray and so took a posi tion with the well-known violin maker Roland Feller in San Francisco. Croen opened his own shop in Oakland in 1983. Vigdorchik, the Russian violinmak er and acoustician, whose plate-tun ing system he adopted. This system involved patterns of "tap-tones" on the wood that should sound specific pitches for specific parts of the top or back. Croen also cites John Dilworth and Roger Hargrave, rwo of the very finest English makers and scholars, as the ones who have imparted to him an understanding and appreciation for the work of the great makers of the past, a criti cal ingredient in his success. In the course of his work, Croen developed certain standards for violas which he has transmogrified into a mantra: avoid small violas which resemble big violins, and large violas that seem like small cellos. Tom Croen feels that the unique alto voice that is the viola is best served with instruments of 16 1116". This size instrument has, in his view, the perfect air volume to ring in the concert hall, and not sound either too soprano or too rubby. With nearly half of the 150 His early work was heavily influ enced by the tenets of Isaak

instruments he has made being violas, he has had ample opportu nity to refine his theory and be confident in his generalizations. It is also important to Tom Croen that his instruments be comfort able and "user-friendly". His own model is loosely based on the work of Guarneri del Gesu, but is some what on the smaller side, 16 1/16th, with a relatively short suing length, not terribly high ribs, an easily negotiable slope on the shoulder, and a lightening-fast response that makes playing easy. Many players have found the above formula to be a winning combination. His instruments are

By Eric J. Chapman

Tom Croen's journey to Hor's Concour and a viola voice ofhis own took him only ten years, but in those ten years he moved from one coast to the next, from one career path to another, and into the exalt ed ranks of mulriple medal winners of the Violin Society ofAmerica. Originally planning a career in music, he was enrolled at Allegheny College when he abruptly changed direction and decided violinmaking was more compelling than violin playing. In 1977, he entered the Violinmaking School ofAmerica in Salt Lake City, where, under the tutelage of Peter Prier, he learned

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