André S. Ozturk
At the age of 7 I began studying cello with Iain Grandage and instantly fell in love with the sound and form of the instrument.
With a wonderful teacher and a love of the instrument, my cello studies progressed quickly and I soon found myself on a trajectory for a life in the world of music.
At the age of 12, I won full music scholarships to four secondary schools; Perth Modern, Churchlands, Scotch College and Christ Church Grammar School.
In 1995 at the age of 13, I began private cello lessons under Gregory Baron of the Alberni String Quartet and at 15 won a scholarship to join the UWA Music Academy programme (University of Western Australia). There we studied performance, theory, history and composition under Anthony Maydwell and Alan Bonds.
Meanwhile, my desire to make violin family instruments had been growing into nothing short of an obsession over the years.
My mother had found me an old book on the subject and its’ text and illustrations captured my imagination, making me determined to one day make violins and cellos myself.
Graduating from Christ Church Grammar School in 1999, I went on to complete a Bachelor of Architecture at Curtin University of Technology.
Between finishing school and beginning university I finally found time to make my first violin, going on to make two more during my university years.
Travels to the Stradivari Museum in Cremona, Italy, during 2001 and 2002 gave me great inspiration as well as the opportunity to meet and discuss techniques with some of the violin makers in Cremona and also Switzerland, where I also took regular cello lessons with Gerhard Oetiker at the Musicakademie St. Gallen.
Upon returning to Perth I completed my architectural degree, but after working for a year as a graduate architect, I decided to dedicate myself full-time to my violin making and restoration, officially setting up my business in 2006.
In 2008 I travelled to Melbourne, where I worked in the violin making and restoration studio of Leon Petroff, learning some of the finer points of bow rehairing as well as making and repairing instruments.
In 2009 I opened my shopfront studio in Subiaco, where I served the string players of the WASO, visiting soloists, string teachers and students for 14 years.
In 2022 I purchased and purpose-renovated a property in Chelsea Village, Nedlands, to house my workshop.
Moving into this premises has allowed me freedom to configure my workshop anew, providing expanded capabilities for undertaking all forms of repair and restoration.
I also enjoy giving occasional public performances on both modern and baroque cello in ensembles, and as soloist.