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There are moments in life when sound becomes memory, and memory becomes destiny. For me, that moment came not in a concert hall, but in a quiet workshop filled with the fragrance of aged wood and the gleam of time-worn tools. Stepping into the studio of violin maker Harry Vatillotis in Sydney, 1999, I felt as though I had entered a sacred place where silence itself could be carved into music. From that day, I knew: the violin would be the vessel through which I would dedicate my life to art.

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Born in South Korea, I began my journey in music at the piano, but it was the violin that became my calling. My search for mastery led me first to Melbourne, where I apprenticed under Marioscida, and to Kwangju, South Korea, where I worked with Il Hun Jung. Yet it was in Cremona, Italy—the birthplace of violin making—that my path truly deepened. At the Stradivari International Violin Making School, I studied under Maestro Alessandro Voltini, a Triennale winner and one of the world’s most revered violin makers. Upon graduation in 2006, I joined the renowned Carlson & Neumann workshop, entrusted with restoring and preserving instruments of Stradivari, Amati, and Guarneri—masterpieces that carry centuries of music within them.

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My craft soon found recognition on the international stage: the Violin Society of America honored me in 2006 with a Certificate of Merit for Viola workmanship; in 2008, I received the Gold Medal at the International Violin Making Competition in Mexico; and in 2009, I was awarded the Bronze Medal for Viola at the Triennale International Competition in Cremona.

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In time, my story was told in publications across the world: The Strad first featured me as one of its “Pick of Up-and-Coming Makers” in 2007, and later profiled me in 2016 in “The Dream Came True.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote of my work in 2009, and Voyage LA introduced me to their readers in 2017 as a maker devoted to his craft.

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Since 2011, I have made my home in Irvine, California, where I create violins and violas that aspire not only to sing but to breathe—to hold in their voice both the weight of tradition and the spark of new stories. My workshop is a place where wood is given soul, where restoration brings back forgotten voices, and where music finds a timeless partner. I share this life with my wife, Sue, and my daughter, Susan, and together we embrace the rich and varied cultures of California.