About

Garth Lee Strings
is a custom instrument studio specializing in violins, violas, and cellos.

Garth P. Lee
For as long as he can remember, Garth has been involved in music and woodworking and is passionate about the creative process of making instruments from the violin family.

Garth trained at the prestigious Newark School of Violin Making in England. During this time he had the opportunity to study violins, violas, and cellos from the workshops of Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, and others.  These occasions inspired Garth in his own work and he went on to graduate with Distinction and the Highest Honours awarded in more than five years. This achievement was made possible in part by mentorship from Glen A. Collins.

He then went on to work in a partnership together with luthiers Susanna (Sillberg) Collins (now in Finland) and Seisuke Kawamura (now in Japan).

Garth Lee Strings was established in Winnipeg in 2008 and quickly gained the respect of the local professional string community and beyond. Garth’s instruments are played by professional musicians throughout Canada as well as England, South Africa, Norway, and New Zealand. He is a member of the Violin Society of America https://www.vsaweb.org and enjoys attending the world renowned Oberlin College Violin Making Workshop http://www.oberlinviolinmakers.org . The Oberlin workshop is a gathering of professional makers from around the world who come together once annually to share ideas and techniques. Working along side each other for two weeks develops a wonderful network of connections and friendships, which of course also becomes an invaluable resource.

Garth maintains a strong commitment to the community by volunteering his time to do repair work for Sistema Winnipeg. A fantastic program aimed at using music for social change. Read more about the program here: https://wso.ca/sistema/

Matthew Harder
Matthew has studied under Garth Lee, building on his guitar building and stage musician background to include the maintenance and repair of the more classical strings. He is a welcome addition to Garth Lee Strings and is ready to assist you with any repairs your instrument may need.

You can contact him at repair@garthleestrings.com to book an appointment.