Fabienne Gauchet & Louis Gord
Fabienne Gauchet trained at the Newark School of Violin Making from where she graduated successfully in 1998. She continued her training through apprenticeships, mainly in France, her birth country. Established in Canada since 2000, she worked at Wilder & Davis luthiers for fifteen years. There, she had the opportunity to work on fine instruments and to meet many talented musicians. Enriched by these experiences, she now devotes her time working on new instruments of her own. Constantly seeking to expand her knowledge she has been participating to the New York Contemporary Violin Makers Exhibition, the Forum des Fabricants in Canada, the Oberlin Violin Making Workshop and international violin making competitions. Fabienne is a founding member of The Maker Forum (Canadian Association of Violin and Bow Makers) and of Collectif Lutherie Montreal, an independent makers workshop.
Fabienne was finalist with honorable mention at the 15th and 16th International Triennale Violin making competition in 2018 and 2021.
She received several certificates of merit for sound and artisanship at the VSA Competition, a double gold medal for violin in 2022, a silver medal for violin tone and a double gold medal for her quartet in 2024.
Fabienne Gauchet
Louis Gord
Louis studied viola at Angers’s Musical Conservatory for twelve years and has played in orchestras and chamber music ensembles. His love for music and crafts pushed him to the service of performers and their instruments.
In 2012, he graduated from the International Violin Making School of Mirecourt in France. During his studies, he notably worked with Jérome Doucet in Angers and Vatelot-Rampal in Paris on restoration and maintenance of antique and rare instruments.
However, he quickly grew fond of making modern instruments. After school, Louis worked with violin makers Marcus Klimke, Antoine Cauche, Patrick Robin and his assistant, Viateur Roy. In January 2014, he became Isabelle Wilbaux’s assistant in Montreal, Quebec.
For their mutual work on a viola, Isabelle and Louis won a fabrication credit certificate and a sonority credit certificate, during the 2014 Violin Society of America competition in Indianapolis.
During the 2018 VSA Competition, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit for Workmanship for his viola.
In June 2019, Isabelle and Louis separated their activities. Since then, Louis works on his own creations.
In October 2020, he entered the board of directors of the Canadian violin and bow maker’s association: the Maker’s Forum, and took on the role of Treasurer.
He is a founder member and the secretary of the Collectif Lutherie Montreal, a shared workshop and violin making center of documentation, based in Montreal, Quebec.
During the 2022 VSA Competition, he was awarded a Silver Medal for Artisanship for his viola.