Alum makes his mark as an engineer and artist

It takes a great artist to create a great violin.

The result is even more inspiring if that artist is an intrepid scientist and first-rate engineer. George Yu (BASc ’86, systems design engineering) is all of these things and more.

Yu is a renowned luthier — a maker of violins — who is based in Louisville, Kentucky, and models many of his handcrafted instruments on rare, centuries-old Italian violins.

Prized by great musicians, his masterpieces delight audiences who hear professionals play them in the New York Philharmonic, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and other ensembles.

Renowned luthier George Yu. 

For Yu, the three months of painstaking labour required to make a single violin is “a confluence of science, music and craft.” CT scans of vintage violins reveal the precise information he needs to make his own personal versions of these priceless instruments. 

Engineer, craftsman, musician, artist: in what, far more than a job, is a life’s calling, Yu embodies them all.

Go to Celebrating George Yu for the full story.