May 15, 2017

Meet Stephanie Voss and Chris Burndrett of Voss Violins in Midtown

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Voss and Chris Burndrett.

Stephanie and Chris, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I studied Violin Making at the world-renowned Violin Making School in Mittenwald, Germany. Upon graduating as Journeyman, I worked with Herman Wörz for 6 years and Peter Erben for 1 year in Munich, Germany I was eligible for the German Master Diploma, which took another year of schooling and tests. After successfully finishing my Master Diploma Exam, I was looking for new opportunities and found them in Atlanta, GA with Williams Gengakki Violins. I worked with Regie Williams from 1995 to 1998. In May 1998, I started my own studio, focusing on large restoration work for well-known shops in the Northeast of the US and new violin making. Gradually, I built my professional clientele spanning the entire Southeast US.

In 2005, I moved the shop into the current location on Glen Iris Dr. The workload increased so much that I took Kile Hill into my workshop in 2008, Kevin Miller in 2010, Chris Burndrett in 2015 and Andrew Khedarian in 2016.

Chris Burndrett is the Operations Manager/Bow Specialist for the shop as well as being a professional violinist. Combining Stephanie’s knowledge of instrument making, repair, and restoration with Chris’ 20+ year performance history and bow restoration training has proven to be very successful.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have been fortunate that my business grew steadily. Of course, there are always off years, for example the recession of 2008. By keeping the business flexible in each of its branches we were able to weather the crisis very well.

Voss Violins – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
All of the staff at Voss Violins, LLC are experienced violin makers/bow technicians/professional musicians. This allows us to fulfill the confidence of our customers. We are a full range bowed string instrument shop with a sales inventory ranging from the $650 starter violin outfit to the $50,000 professional investment instrument.

Our customers range from elementary students to Atlanta Symphony Musicians and freelance performers. We pride ourselves in providing the same high level of service and knowledge to all of our clients. The collective experience in our profession is the largest in the entire South East of the US. Our workshop performs large scale restorations as well as making of new violins, violas, and cellos. We are constantly designing and innovating, working closely with our clients based on their needs.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We strive to help our young clients achieve their goals. In 2014, all but one of the Georgian High school students that made it into the National Youth Symphony played on instruments made in our shop. (The one exception played Oboe, which we don’t make)

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