Emmeline Nguyen VM ’25

“I’m someone who enjoys the process”

Violin Making & Repair ’25
Age 24
Boston, Massachusetts

After taking a break from college during the pandemic, Emmeline worked at a used and rare books shop and a pharmacy while exploring alternate career paths, like architecture and interior design. Nothing felt like a fit. That is, until a chance visit to pick up her younger brother’s cello bow from a shop led her to her next chapter.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself—how old you are and where you’re from?

I’m 24 years old and from Roanoke, Virginia. Boston is a straight-shot from there on the Northeast Regional Amtrak train line, and it’s great to take the train home during the holidays.

What were you doing before NBSS, and what inspired the change?

I graduated from high school a year early and took a gap year because, even though I did well, I hated school and thought I should take a gap year before I went back to another educational institution. I lived in South Korea for six months doing a language program. 

I then went to Oberlin College, but after the pandemic hit and we were in and out of lockdowns, I ultimately decided to take a break from college. I was working at a used and rare books shop and a pharmacy. My mom encouraged me to take aptitude tests, and all of them pointed to things like architecture and interior design. I looked into those, but they were not what I wanted to do.

When/how did you discover your discipline/field?

I grew up playing the violin and viola, and my younger brother and I have always been involved in classical music. In the fall of 2021, my brother’s cello bow had to be re-haired, and I drove two hours to the closest shop, Vacanti Violins, run by Jonathan Vacanti in Charlottesville, Virginia. I had recently begun making dollhouse furniture and was very interested to see his tools and the general energy of a workshop. When I saw the workshop, I asked the owner how exactly one gets into violin making: ‘What does that educational process even look like?’ 

During that visit, he recommended schools in the U.S. where I could study. By 2:00 a.m. that night, I had sent off my application to the Violin Making & Repair program at NBSS.

Why did you choose to invest in training for a new career?

I’ve always been interested in working with my hands, and making things has been a theme throughout my life. As a kid, I made a lot of paper houses. My friend and I used to make little snail homes in the wet spring. It was fortuitous that when I happened upon the idea of violin making, I had started doing hand work again. 

I come from a family that values education. My dad is a doctor of internal medicine, and my mom has her master’s degree in public health. My parents wanted me to go to some kind of school, and I knew as a learner that I appreciate thorough explanations of things, as well as time and space to take in the instructor’s advice and contextualize the importance of the instructions.

In what ways have you felt supported during your time at NBSS?

My instructor, Roman Barnas [Violin Making & Repair Department Head], has been great. He gave me the time and space to take in advice and put pieces together in my own time as to what the greater need for accuracy would mean for the health of the whole instrument. He doesn’t waste your time policing how accurately you executed his instructions—he just gives you all of the tools and resources to come to conclusions and make decisions by yourself. He is very conscious about teaching people in ways that they understand and has been an excellent mentor.

I’ve also made good friends here that I hope to stay connected to for a long time. As we all enter this (pretty small) workforce around the same time, we can also share information about techniques and styles as we continue learning, because, with violin making, there are a lot of different schools of thought and pedagogical structures.

How do you feel at the end of a full day in the shop today compared to before NBSS?

One thing that hindered me in academics was that even if I got an A in the end, if I hadn’t enjoyed the process, I didn’t care about the end result. When I was in an orchestra or playing chamber music, a lot of people practiced for their recital. But for me, the rehearsals were the fun part—I’m someone who enjoys the process. 

At NBSS, I enjoyed the precise and accurate work, the tactile feedback of the tools, and the problem solving. When I get to the end of a project, what I remember is the feelings I had doing it. There are a lot of things in life where the result is supposed to matter more than the process. Thankfully, with the kind of work that we do here, if the process isn’t enjoyable and you’re not working fluidly, it shows in the final product. If the process feels good and smooth, you’re more likely to have a positive result.

What’s next for you?

I graduated in January 2025 and became a Teaching Assistant at NBSS through the end of the academic year. I was then hired to work at a restoration shop, [the world-renowned] Reuning & Sons Violins in Brookline, Massachusetts, with a long-term plan of going into restoration.

If you could sum up your NBSS experience in one word or phrase, what would it be—and why?

It’s a place for people who enjoy the process.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve made during your time at NBSS?

My first violin. It won an award for tone at the Kaminski Violin Making Competition in Poznan, Poland, and I kept it for personal use. I work at a vintage store on the weekends, and my boss is a ’90s rocker who still plays. I played with her recently at her album showcase, and one of her friends asked me if I’d play in his reggae Motown band. I said, ‘Absolutely I’ll play in your reggae Motown band!’ One of my friends complimented my playing after the concert but I said, ‘My playing wasn’t that great … what you should be impressed with is, I made this violin!’ [laughs]

This story is from our Summer 2025 issue of Benchmarks magazine. View more issues.