Victoria McDonald (Chicago School of Violin Making)

Victoria (Tori) McDonald is a current student at the Chicago School of Violin Making (CSVM) under the tutelage of Antoine Nedelec and Jeff Phillips. She began playing the violin at the age of six and continued her performance studies in college, graduating from Susquehanna University in 2017 with a BA in music and a minor in chemistry. While always interested in science and especially art, Tori became fascinated by violin-making after luthier Samantha Cortez (Kadisch) visited the music department at Susquehanna in 2016. Thinking back on how she loved creating woodworking projects with her dad growing up, Tori realized the world of violin-making seemed to perfectly meet her need to create art with scientific considerations guiding the process.

After completing her undergraduate studies, Tori moved to Cleveland, OH and attended a bow repair workshop led by Lynn Hannings at the UNH Violin Craftsmanship Institute in 2018. While living in Cleveland, Tori worked as an office assistant at Terry Carlin Violins, where she also had the opportunity to work with Rodney and Kate Mohr. In August of 2022, Tori completed an encouraging and highly educational two-week internship at Reed-Yeboah Fine Violins, which left her motivated to continue striving for excellence in her work. She will graduate from CSVM in April 2023.