Jan Hampton

Jan founded Jan Hampton Violins in 1993 and has repaired and restored violin family instruments for over a decade. She has studied violin and bow restoration with masters of the trade, including: Violin Institute at the University of New Hampshire; Horst Kloss, Master violin maker; Lynn Hannings, Master bow maker; Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts with Hans Nebel, Master violin maker. Jan attended Virginia Commonwealth University studying Classical Guitar performance in the Masters of Music program. She is a member of the Violin Society of America and the Catgut Acoustical Society.

Diana Cole

Diana attended the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and has studied with Hans Nebel, Master Violin Maker. She has over 10 years experience violin shop repair and sales. She has a BFA in Painting and Print Making from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Masters in Education. Diana has over 15 years teaching experience.

Adam Birce

Adam joined the staff of Jan Hampton Violins in 2005. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music and Business at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2008. Adam is apprenticing with Jan in the restoration and repair of instruments and also studies at the University of New Hampshire with master violin maker, Horst Kloss. Adam is an accomplished violinist and violist and assists customers in their selection of instruments. In his spare time, he teaches violin lessons at our shop.

Don Leister

Don has a passion for making beautiful works in wood. He made his first instrument in 1991 and has completed 24 instruments to date. Don has attended many violin making and instrument repair workshops including violin repair workshop at MCLA with Hans Nebel, Violin Craftsmanship Workshop at UNH with Lynn Hannings, and Chimney's violin makers' workshops with Ed Campbell. He is a member of VSA, CAS, GAL, VMAAI, SCAVM and earned a BFA in 1986 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Suzanne Maerz

Suzanne started working at Jan Hampton Violins in May of 2004 and has become a vital part of the Jan Hampton team. She has been an active string player since the age of 9. She completed her Bachelors Degree in Music (education emphasis) with a minor in Business at Virginia Commonwealth University. Suzanne is a member of ASTA, MENC, and MTNA. When she is not working at the violin shop, you can find her keeping busy mentoring her studio private string students, managing/performing with the Windemere String Quartet, and directing the Forest Hill Adult String Ensemble (FHASE) – an ensemble for adult beginning string players.