BRUCE WEST INSTRUMENTS

Bruce started playing violin in the late 70's and after taking a few lessons, needed a better violin and decided to build one. David Rubio was a curator for the Oxford Museum where the infamous "Messiah" made by Stradivarius was housed. In the 1700's a copy of the "Messiah" was made by Nicholas Lupot of Paris, France. The founder of Reminyi Music in Canada, Zoltan Reminyi, purchased the copy in Europe before moving to Canada. He needed money to open a music store in Toronto, Ontario, and sold the copy of the "Messiah" at an auction. Bruce's father, Robert West, purchased the violin. In need of a violin to play, Bruce made a copy of the copy of the "Messiah"... Bruce was playing violin with an amateur orchestra in Barry, Ontario. He was asked to move over to viola in the orchestra and because he didn't have a viola…you guessed it….he built one. He studied the dimensions of tenor and alto violas and used both Stradavarius's and his own calculations and proportions to build the viola...