Christer Berglund

Violinateljé Uppsala
Alsikegatan 2
753 23 Uppsala
Telephone: 018-71 15 20
E-mail: violinateljeuppsala@outlook.com

Christer Berglund established his esteemed studio, Violinateljé Uppsala, in 1997 and the following year received his Certificate of Master Craftsmanship (Mästarbrev). Prior to that, he was employed as a violinmaker from 1990 to 1996 at William Monical & Son, Inc in New York City. Bill Monical is highly regarded internationally as an authority in baroque string instruments and recognized throughout the world as an expert in the repair and restoration of historically significant string instruments. Working closely with Bill, Christer was generously gifted with the invaluable knowledge Bill imparted, with access to some of the world’s finest string instruments (and their musicians) as well as being exposed to the true beauty and arcane practices of the trade. Christer Berglund also worked in Sam Zygmuntowicz’ violin studio in Brooklyn, New York for a period.
During his time in the United States, Christer Berglund was also engaged as a consultant to work with ‘The Herbert R Axelrod Quartet of Decorated Instruments by Antonio Stradivari’ on behalf of The National Museum of American History, Division of Cultural History, at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC (the Smithsonian being “the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex”). The Axelrod Quartet of Decorated Instruments by Antonio Stradivari consists of the Ole Bull violin, 1687; the Greffuhle violin, c 1700; the Axelrod viola, 1695; and the Marylebone violoncello, 1688. The earliest foundations of Christer Berglund’s expert violinmaking vocation were laid from 1986 to 1990 during which time he studied at the College of Trades & Crafts in Leksand. There, he began his pursuit of mastery in the fine art of violinmaking, fulfilled the complex requirements to skillfully pass the Journeyman’s examination and acquired his Journeyman papers (Gesällbrev), with which he could go out into the wider world to continue to refine his beloved pursuits in meaningful venues, as noted above.
Through the years Christer Berglund has been awarded a number of cultural scholarships and prizes, including by The Cultural Affairs Council in the City of Uppsala, The Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Svensk Form (The Swedish Society of Crafts and Design), Industrialist JL Eklund’s Foundation for Trades and Crafts, Folksam, The City of Nyköping’s Cultural Affairs Committee and Culture in Sörmland. In 2017, Master Luthier Christer Berglund won the recognition of The Greater Uppsala Region receiving the Region’s highest tribute obtainable to masters, funded by the CE Lindgren Foundation and bestowed by The Association of Master Tradesmen & Craftsmen of Uppsala, namely, the prized award, Master Craftsman of the Year in the Greater Uppsala Region, for having “in an exemplary manner from both a technical and aesthetic point of view carried out his skilled profession with devotion and expertise and contributing effectively to recruitment into that profession”.