Peter Paul
PRIER
(Founder)

Peter Paul Prier was born in Germany in 1942. He began playing the violin at seven years of age. Pursuing his love for the instrument, he entered the Violin Making School in Mittenwald, Germany. He studied under the guidance of Alouis Hornsteiner, Paul Seckendorf, and Leo Aschauer, and worked in the shop of Walter Hamma in Stuttgart, Germany.

In 1960 after graduating from the school, he immigrated to the United States to work under Ludwig Aschauer at Pearce Music Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. From 1961 to 1964 Peter played with the Utah Symphony. He ended his full-time participation in the symphony when he was drafted into the military. After his service he returned to the symphony for seven concert engagements in Europe and South America, performing and caring for the instruments in the string section. Then, in 1965, he opened his own violin shop in Salt Lake City.

In 1972 he established the Violin Making School of America, many graduates of which have opened their own premier shops all over the world. In 2004, Peter opened the Salt Lake City Recital Hall as a venue for up-and-coming musicians. "The Sounding Tree", an unprecedented violin making documentary, was produced by Peter Prier in 1996. In 1997 he made "String Stress", a video teaching simple at home repairs. In 2010 he completed "When Trees Sing", an innovative fifteen-disc DVD series for instructional violin making.