JAVS Fall 2011

I N M EMORIAM

Eric Chapman

Before opening a violin shop, Eric Chapman was a Teaching Fellow in African-American Studies at the university of Michigan and taught history at St. Paul’s School in New hampshire. Eric grew up in a musical home and by age four fell in love with the sound of the viola. he began to play violin, but graduated to the larger instrument as soon as he could. As a young ster, he helped to demonstrate violins and violas at the famous Wurlitzer shop in New york, and there gained his first hands-on exposure to great instruments. he played viola for forty-five years in civic orchestras, founded the Ann Arbor Summer Symphony in 1974, and also was active in chamber music and in commis sioning new works. Eric Chapman Violins began in the late 1970s in Larchmont, New york, where I first met Eric about thirty years ago. We played string quartets together for many years. Eric shared his passions for history and the violin family with herbert K. Goodkind, the author of Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari (Larchmont, 1972). he and Goodkind also had great interest in supporting contemporary instrument and bow makers. The two were among the founding members of the Violin Society of America (VSA). Eric served on the VSA Board for thirty-five years and as its President from 1975–82 and was awarded Gold Medals for distinguished service in 1982 and 2008. he played a major role in the organization of the VSA’s biennial international competitions for luthiers and archetiers and was Director for five of these events. An important motivation was to ensure fair judging with out regard to nationality. Throughout his career Eric sought out and encouraged talented young makers around the globe. he provided major impetus to the revival of the profession in Europe and North America and, as the first invited Western Technical Advisor, helped to launch the modern era of string instrument making in China. In recent years he served on the board of the non-profit Chicago School of Violin

Eric Chapman in 1987 (photo courtesy of Dwight Pounds)

Making. When he found a maker whose work he liked, Eric would go to great lengths to promote the individual’s instruments. I benefitted from this when I added viola to my repertoire after many years of play ing only violin. Eric first loaned me an instrument by Amos hargrave (a VSA gold medal winning viola) to facilitate my transition to the alto clef, then helped me obtain a fine viola by Benjamin Ruth, and finally arranged for a commissioned instrument from Frank Ravatin, a nearly exact twin of Eric’s own viola by that excellent French luthier. Along the way, he taught me a great deal about what makes an instrument special and helped instill a new appreciation for those who have revitalized a marvelous old craft. Eric moved his shop to larger quarters on halstead Avenue in Mamaroneck, New york, in 1985. Later, he relocated to Chicago with the somewhat quixotic goal

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