Uniting American tradition and European expertise
in modern sound and form.

The Violin Shop of Old Carmel is a full-service violin shop that caters to the entire string-playing community, offering mass-produced, shop-made or custom instruments designed to fit musicians from beginners to professionals. We offer full service for violins, violas, cellos, basses and bows, which includes repairs, restorations, warrantied purchases, rentals, consignments, and free trials of our instruments.

Many of our instruments are handmade on-site by award-winning luthier Alexander Leyvand, whose premier craftsmanship has been globally recognized and has won awards at many competitions, including some in Italy and Russia. Alex expertly creates violins, violas and cellos using traditional methods and high-quality materials, including specially-selected wood aged a minimum of two decades and elegant polished varnishes made from his private recipes. His instruments are unique in their aesthetic patterning and comfortable playability, each one capable of rich and vibrant musical tones.

In addition to Alex’s personally-made instruments, we offer a line of shop-made violins and violas produced by talented local affiliates and an assortment of fine antique instruments and bows from around the world, including Germany, Italy and France. Since 1991, we have strived for quality and performance in all of our products, providing hand-selected instruments to musicians from all over the world. We are here today continuing to provide the best service and craftsmanship to our clientele.