Founded in 2005, we are a full service stringed instrument shop. Owned by a professionally trained violin maker, we have everything from entry level student instruments to the highest quality professional instruments. We offer sales, rentals and repairs of violins, violas, cellos, basses and their bows and accessories. We also specialize in fine instruments and restorations. Trained in both education and performance and with close relationships to educators and artists throughout the tri-state area, we understand the needs of both beginning students as well as the seasoned professional. Please look through our site and feel free to contact us at any time with any questions. We look forward to serving your musical needs!
Our Staff
Erika Sayar
Owner Erika Sayar is an accomplished musician and professional violin maker and restorer. Among her more notable achievements as a solo pianist, Erika has performed in Carnegie Hall in NY and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia as a Gold level winner and High Honors level in the Golden Key Music & Arts Festival and the NJMTA competition. She was also asked to perform for Steinway’s 150th Anniversary celebration and UNICEF’s peace piano concert series, both in the Kimmel Center. Erika received her Bachelor of Music degree from The College of New Jersey in piano and cello and is an active performer on both instruments. She is currently a cellist with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra.As a luthier, Erika began her training with her father, Karl Safran, at the age of 14 in his shop Safran Strings, Inc. After completing her education at TCNJ, she opened her own shop, The Violin Doctor, in 2005. Erika then went on to be accepted at the prestigious Violin Making & Repair program at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA. During her 3 year tenure there under the tutelage of American Federation of Violinmakers member Roman Barnas, she built 6 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello and completed many high end restoration projects. She actively participates in summer violin restoration workshops, beginning in 2005 at the University of New Hampshire under Horst Kloss, also a Federation member, and beginning in 2007 at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts under renowned restorer and founding member of the American Federation, Hans J. Nebel.
Erika has appeared on PBS’s documentary Craft in America and local cable shows Career Corner and Neighborhood Journal. She has also been featured in the Asbury Park Press and In Jersey Magazine. Additionally, Erika currently serves as the Director of Music at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Middletown, NJ where she plays piano, organ and directs choir and is also the assistant elementary string orchestra teacher for the four Wall Township elementary schools. Her professional affiliations include the Violin Society of America, American Guild of Organists, American String Teachers Association and others.
MaryAnn Connolly
MaryAnn has been with the shop since December of 2005. She oversees the maintenance of the shop’s rental fleet as well as many client repairs. She has participated in workshops under the tutelage of restorer Hans J. Nebel as well as Boston based violinmaker Paul Weissmeyer. She is an active musician as a singer in the Concordia Chorale and is a violin student under Russian born violinist Villi Zeltser.
Sophia Lassiter
Sophia Lassiter serves as the director of our Music Academy. She has been involved with teaching and playing violin for most of her life. As early as high school, Ms. Lassiter was placing in area competitions and directing summer music programs for younger students while teaching private lessons on the side. She went on to receive her B.M. in Violin Performance from Gordon College, and her M.M. in Violin Pedagogy from UW-Milwaukee, winning scholarships at both institutions to help further her studies. She has taught and performed extensively throughout New England, the Midwest, Florida, and Virginia. Ms. Lassiter’s passion for group string instruction and ensemble work in conjunction with her love of small businesses and entrepreneurship has played a significant role in her career thus far. She has directed a youth string orchestra through Stetson University in Deland, FL, creating a multi-level pre-college string program while maintaining a full studio that fed into it, and she has also implemented the first-ever string program at Norfolk Christian Schools in Norfolk, VA. She currently acts as Studio Director for The Violin Doctor, where she also teaches private lessons and group classes to students of all ages. She held the position of Concertmaster for the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra during the 2022-2023 season.Christopher Bonardi
Our office manager and cello instructor, Chris is an active freelance cellist born and raised in Middletown, NJ. At the age of 11, Chris was introduced to Jameson Platte, who closely facilitated his career in cello performance. After graduating from Skidmore College with a Bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Music, Chris began to pursue his career in medicine but has recently decided to follow his passion of cello performance and pedagogy. Chris was awarded the coveted Filene Music Scholarship from Skidmore College where he found his voice in chamber music and solo performance. His quartet, who he actively collaborates with to this day, has performed notable works by Shostakovich, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, among many other composers. During his senior year, Chris was the runner up for the Skidmore Concerto Competition for which Movement I of the Dvorak Cello Concerto was performed. Chris has also acted as the principal cellist for multiple orchestras, including but not limited to the Monmouth Symphony, the Skidmore College Orchestra, and the New Jersey State Youth Orchestra.
Judith Morse
Judith Morse is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance. She also holds M.A. and Ed.M. degrees in Education from Columbia University. Ms. Morse was trained under the Russian tradition of string study from the Leopold Auer methods. Ms. Morse studied violin and this style of education and performance at Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University with Raphael Bronstein, and prior, with Dr. Samuel Applebaum. Ms. Morse studied conducting with Anton Coppola, George Manahan, Adrian Gnam, Julius Kalmar and Yuji Yusawa. She studied the Musin technique of conducting with Leonid Korchmar from the Kirov Ballet and the Leningrad Conservatory, and Oleg Proskurnya from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Upon completion of her Bachelors degree, Ms. Morse studied conducting in Vienna at the Conservatory with Julius Kalmar and Yuji Yusawa where she received a diploma. Teaching experience includes private studio, String Specialist K-12 and teaching assistant to Samuel Applebaum at various universities throughout the United States on his methods of string pedagogy. Her violin and viola students have been concertmaster of the New Jersey Youth Symphony and members of the New Jersey Region Orchestra, All State Orchestra, as well the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra, Bucks County Youth Orchestra, and Central Jersey Youth Orchestra. They have won many music competitions solo performance. Her youth ensembles have won national awards and for the past four years have been recognized as a Grammy Signature Finalist. Violin performance experience includes Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lyric Opera House, Baltimore, Lincoln Center, Irish Philharmonic, American Ballet Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Hall, Russia. She has performed on tour with Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra. Jr., Mannheim Steamroller, Anne Murray, Ann Jillian, Dawn Langstroth, LeAnn Rimes, Clay Aiken, Bobby Vinton, Dionne Warwick, Anthony Kearns and the Irish Tenors, Patti Lupone, Marvin Hamlisch, Linda Eder, IL Divo, Ronan Tyan, k.d. Lang and the American Ballet Orchestra. Since 2000, Judith Morse is Conductor and Music Director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra. She is tour conductor for Emmy and Golden Globe Actress Singer, Ann Jillian. Morse is currently on the faculty of the Westminster Conservatory of Music and is recognized in Marquis Who's Who.Evelyne Morel
Evelyne joined our staff as a technician in 2017. Evelyne grew up around stringed instruments as her father, Rene Morel, was a famed luthier. Evelyne studied violin throughout her adolescence performing with various ensembles through middle school and high school. She offers unique insights and experiences into the stringed instrument universe.
