The story of W.G.Luk Violins:
“Three passions and talents in his life - violin making, carpentry and music.”
Luk Wei Guang has three passions and talents in his life - violin making, carpentry and music. These passions and talents have been consolidated into his violin making Woodwork and Music
Since he was a young boy, Luk was fascinated by crafting a piece of wood into all sorts of cool toys like ships and airplanes. His father used to say that Luk could work with wood the whole day and never tire of it.
The story of music in his life is similar: Luk has always been passionate about music, but did not have the opportunity to learn to play an instrument until he had left high school. The violin only became known in China in the nineteenth century and then only a few could access it. But even with the cultural revolution in the background, Luk understood the beauty of this instrument and searched for and joined a violin class.
Luk had began working as a carpenter and his violin teachers asked him to repair the bows and even the broken violins. Violins were incredibly rare and definitely precious in China at the time because everyone was living on the bread line, most students could only use the instruments that their music school had.
A Brilliant Start to Violin Making
In 1974, the parents of a talented young cello soloist, who could not afford to buy an instrument for their daughter, bought some pieces of red pine and northeast China ash and requested Luk to make her a cello. He was very keen to do this but the family had no money to pay him. Between them they agreed that the payment would be that the cellist’s father would teach him architecture.
Friends who worked in Guangzhou Happiness Stringed Instrument Factory gave Luk the technical support he needed for this first venture into making a whole instrument from scratch. When the cello was completed Xu Ning successfully took to the concert stage with her very own hand-made cello. And Luk had acquired the knowledge and skills to draw-up construction plans and estimate the materials needed for high-rise buildings - all this without the use of computers or calculators.
In 1976, Mai Su Mei, a fellow violin student of Luk’s and a promising luthier, provided the plans and instructions to assist Luk to make his first violin. This violin caught the attention of senior luthier Chen Yi, who was impressed with Luk’s talent and provided even more specific and detailed instructions for Luk to make his second violin. With the high praise of Chen Yi and another senior luthier, Xu Fu, many professional and amateur stringed instrument players in Guangzhou sought out Luk.
Missed Luthier Career at a Young Age
Luk worked as a most accomplished gold medal winning carpenter and his employer wouldn’t allow him to leave his job, even though both the Guangzhou Conservatorium of Music and the Guangzhou Instrument Research Institute offered him various full time positions to make great use of his talent and pursue a professional music path.
In 1978, the most prominent Chinese violinist and violin maker, Professor Vice Chancellor Tan Shuzhen, innovatively instituted a degree course in violin making at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. But Luk, who would have jumped at the chance to enrol, didn’t find out about the course until it had well-and-truly started.
Australia
In 1990 an Australian company who had become aware of Luk’s great carpentry skills, sponsored Luk and his family to migrate to Sydney and work as a tutor for TAFE carpentry students. Later, with the dedicated support of his wife, Luk chose to work for himself as a contractor-builder. Luk found that the simple and peaceful life style in Australia, gave him time to research and perfect his musical craft work in the evenings. It didn’t take long for professional musicians, music teachers and students in Sydney to get to know about Luk’s skills and take their damaged and out-of-tune instruments to him. He has become renowned in Sydney for his care in repairing and tuning instruments. In the 70’s in China, it was almost impossible for individuals to find or buy technical books on instrument making but Luk, with great determination and perseverance, researched the titles and sought the help of relatives in Hong Kong and fellow luthiers until he had acquired all the books he needed, some of which could only be loaned to him and so his brother copied them by hand. Although he carefully brought these exceptional books to Australia, he rarely refers to them as he knows them by heart.
Recent Accomplishments
Luk is now one of the committee members of the Sydney Chinese-Australian Music Society who tour China regularly. China now has a fast-growing violin making industry, so most major Chinese cities host music shows and expos. Through touring and attending the shows Luk has had the chance to reconnect with old music friends such as master luthiers Chen Yi, Xu Fu, Tan Jianhua, Mai Sumei and Liang Guohui and to become friends with master luthier Zheng Quan, Scott Cao and Chang Zhongqiu. Visiting those master luthier’s studios and the musical instrument shows has broadened and enriched Luk’s knowledge of violin making.
Encouraged by his peer luthiers, Luk has put his violin-making skills to the test by participating in international competitions in America (2012) and China. Luk ranked 22nd and Bow competition in 2013 and 25th at the Beijing International Violin. He is currently preparing a quartet set for the 2014 US competition.
Now that Luk is semi-retired he can devote a lot of time to his passion for music and instrument making. In early 2014, Luk restored and repaired an Italian cello that is over 250 years old. The owner was delighted with the quality and resulting sound of the delicate work that Luk did. So Luk’s three great passions and his fields of work have come together well in Australia and he wants to spend the rest of his life making quality string instruments.