GRUBAUGH & SEIFERT are Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert; working partners for more  than 45 years. They have been making and restoring violin family instruments in Petaluma,  California in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1980 where they also raised their two children.  

Sigrun started her studies in violin making at the Mittenwald School of Violin Making in 1972  and graduated in 1976. Joseph graduated from the Conservatory of Music at UOP in 1972,  before beginning his apprenticeship as a violin maker.  

In 1977, both met at the shop of Hans Weisshaar where Sigrun had already worked for a year.  Moving to San Francisco in 1979 they were soon commissioned to make a violin working together. “This first effort fortified our mutual respect and strengthen our partnership. Be of this trust, we continue to work unaided. We have found that collaborating is not just dividing  up the work but rather each giving ourselves over completely to the task at hand.” 

Along with many other awards, Joseph Grubaugh & Sigrun Seifert are the recipients of 5 Gold  Medals as well as 4 Silver Medals for their work together at VSA competitions. They achieved  VSA Hors Concours status in 1998 winning their 3rd Gold Medal in a row (1994-1996-1998) for  cellos they made and elevating them out of competition. Both are members of the AFVBM and  past members of EILA and have been judges at VSA and other International Competitions.  Both have lectured and written articles. Joseph has in the past been an instructor at the VSA  Oberlin Violin Making Workshop. They are known for thought-out and respectful restorations  and in that vain have also had the honor to have been commissioned to recreate missing  components on many venerated older instruments. “We trust that some of the fine instrument we’ve worked on have rubbed off on us 

The largest percent of their time however is spent making violins, violas and cellos in "near  new" and "antiqued" styles; always inspired by classical design and techniques. They choose  to work on models based on sound and player comfort. They use seasoned wood sourced  mainly from Italy and Bosnia. Some of the instruments they make are in lending collections  and many are played by leading players in major orchestras and quartets.