When we lived in Ojai, CA we became friends with Brian Lisus, a luthier—violin, viola, cello maker—from South Africa who had come to the US and made his home in our little town of Ojai. One day I saw an inconspicuous add in the local paper about violin making lessons. I wondered who in Ojai made violins?! I called him and soon after our family was in his shop for weekly wood carving lessons. It felt so special to be there in the midst of his precise tools and carefully chosen wood from a particular forest in Italy and exquisite instruments in the process of coming-into-being (like Michelangelo’s slaves being freed from marble) and his great skill honed from decades of practice. Recently I looked up his website and was reminded of our time in his shop and our friendship, and I felt so appreciative for skilled craftsmen-artists like Brian who give all their heart and mind to making works of beauty.
Here is Brian’s wonderful website: https://www.lisusviolins.com
Brian also wrote an autobiographical/fictional book—The Morning Light Never Passes Us By— which you can listen to for free directly from his website: https://www.themorninglight.org/
Nearly every chapter of The Morning Light begins with classical music played on Brian’s instruments. And somewhere in chapter 7, you can hear Three for Joy playing a traditional fiddle tune. 🙂
Anne
mom/manager, Three for Joy