Description
After graduating from the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City, Morgan Andersen spent 1978 and 1979 learning the art of bow making with Frank Passa in San Francisco who had worked with Simone Sacconi at the Wurlitzer shop in New York. Passa had also received guidance in his bow making from Emile Ouchard. After working for Passa, Andersen returned to his native Washington State where he has been a self-employed bow maker ever since.
In 1986, Andersen won two gold medals for his work in the Violin Society of America competition. This was followed by another gold medal in 1988 which eliminated him from competition in subsequent VSA events. In 1991 he won a 3rd prize for violin bow in the City of Paris competition. Between 1992 and 2006 he has been a judge of bows at four VSA competitions. In 2011 he again entered the Etienne Vatelot City of Paris Competition, and was awarded the Grand Prix for his violin bow.
Morgan, with a group of others, helped to found the Oberlin Bow Workshop in 1996 which has become an important gathering of contemporary bow makers from North America and Europe for the purpose of working together and exchanging ideas. He is a past co-director of that program. Morgan is a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, and formerly served on its Board of Governors. Currently he serves on the Board of Governors of IPCI-USA, a non profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Pernambuco, the wood used in making fine bows.