Andrew Dipper is a skilled restorer, historian, writer and sculptor. After studying sculpture and violinmaking in London and Cremona, he founded Dipper Restorations in London, England in 1975. He relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1990 where he joined Claire Givens Violins, Inc. as Vice President.

Examples of his restoration and conservation work can be found in many of the world’s foremost public and private musical instrument collections, including: the Metropolitan Museum in New York; the Federal Musical Instrument Museum of Berlin; the National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota; and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Mr. Dipper is a sought-after lecturer and has taught violinmaking and restoration in Cremona and London. He has also published important texts on various aspects of stringed instruments which include a translation of the violinmaking notes of Count Cozio de Salabue, the first collector of instruments by Stradivari and Guarneri and the patron of J. B. Guadagnini; a book on the theory of violin geometry and f-shaped sound-hole construction; and three articles in The Violin Society of America Journal on the works of the Italian makers, their varnishes and working methods. In addition, he edited the translation of The “Secrets” of Stradivari by S. Sacconi from Italian to English. He is currently working on a translation of La Chelonomié, ou, Le Parfait Luthier, compiled by the Abbé Sibire from the workshop notes of Francois Lupot.