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Welcome and thanks for visiting!
I opened my shop in 1982. I have worked unceasingly since that time on the
handmaking of artist class instruments.
I make instruments to custom order, and I also make instruments that are for
immediate purchase. Please call for availability of desired model and current completion schedules.
All my patterns are developed from the old masters. I use as my study
instruments, pieces which are in museum collections and many which are
privately owned. Exceptional tonal qualities and noticeable visual beauty
are of utmost importance in chosing these examples.
Over many years of making, these models have become personalized in most
all respects. Advice from soloists, quartet players, chamber players, orchestral
players, conoisseurs, collectors, respected makers, artists and historians,
combined with my own experience, research and intuition, have resulted
in a continual refinement of the whole process.
When a musician orders an instrument from me, we discuss extensively
his or her preference for sound, tonality, and related playing qualities,
the actual feel of the instrument, overall appearance, wood selection, varnishing, types of fittings,
and any ornamental embellishments.
Some players may instead prefer to purchase an existing instrument.
They receive more comfort in being able to try out one or more instruments
before actually committing to a purchase. In this situation, please call
the shop to see what is currently available.
Please take a moment to visit the rest of the site. I'll gladly give personal
attention to any inquiries. Please see the
About Us
page for contact information.
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I've been playing the violin since the age of seven. I was a scholarship
student studying with Olga Bloom at Hofstra University, and later with
Dr. Anne Yarrow at Molloy College where I received a B.A. in Violin
Performance.
My father, Joseph Maday, is a Master Woodworker and Mechanic. Early on he gave me the
skills I would need to make my first violin at the age of fifteen.
At that time I received generous amounts of advice and guidance from the gifted violin makers
Vincent Obrien of New Hyde Park, and William Huggler of Amityville.
For over 20 years I was under the tutelage of the legendary Boatbuilder, Bayman, and Philosopher,
Philip A. Simon of Woodmere Bay. His constant reinvention of simple, seemingly improvised,
traditional work methods have been applied to just about all aspects of my instrument making career.
I am very thankful for my longtime friendship with Clifford Roberts, the master violin maker of
Philadelphia. Over the years he has given me immeasurable amounts of help and encouragement.
I am also indebted to the great William Monical of Staten Island. He freely
shared with me his precious time, and boundless knowledge of viol family instruments.
His indefatigable enthusiasm is infectious.I am moved by it to this very day.
I worked with the Kolstein family of Baldwin and then for many years with
master violin maker Joseph F. Tripodi of Lynbrook, NY. From Joseph I learned the power
of awareness, the confidence to question, and the importance of relentless self-education.
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