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Rib Restoration, Musical instrument restoration, 2020
Stacey Styles
Holyoke, MA
Wood, varnish, glue
Collection of the artist
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Stacey Styles is internationally recognized as a leading expert in the field of rare violin restoration. She restores structural health and beauty to instruments that have been damaged, or have deteriorated, sometimes over hundreds of years. Violin restoration requires fine woodworking skills and a chameleon-like ability with varnish, skill with imaging tools "microscope, UV light", and casting materials like plasters and resins. Styles studied with master restorer Hans-Jürgen Nebel. From a violin making family in Mittenwald, Germany, Nebel had been handpicked by Simone Sacconi to work at Rembert Wurlitzer's in NYC, then considered among the best restoration shops in the world. Styles spent a decade at Oberlin39;s Summer Violin Institute and attended courses at West Dean, England. Today, sheis a member of a valuable network of colleagues dedicated to the sharing of restoration techniques and expertise.
The musical instruments she works on belong to professional players, teachers, performers and their students, and private collectors. Her clients also require that their instruments be maintained and occasionally adjusted for tone and ease of playing. Her impeccable workmanship has won her many loyal fans. While working on an instrument she says, "There is always an unspoken presence in room -- the maker of the instrument I happen to be working on. As a restorer, I have an additional responsibility to preserve and honor the integrity and the history of the original work of art. This is yet another layer to the art of violin restoration." In 2020, Styles was named a Finalist in the Traditional Arts by Mass Cultural Council .
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