The Bowmakers
The Bowmakers

The Bowmakers

The story of the most important instrument you’ve never heard of.

8.020191h 46mReleased
Documentary

This documentary film explores the world of the bow and the extraordinary masters who make them. The bow is the Cinderella of the orchestra—the overworked and overshadowed ally to its more glamorous partners. Few people, even among lovers of classical music, think of the bow as an instrument in its own right, but players of stringed instruments see them differently. To musicians, the bow is as essential to expressing the soul of the music as the violin or cello. The film follows the journey of the “silent servant” of the music world—from the workshops of the virtuosos of the trade, to the birthplace of the bow in France, and to Brazil, home to the imperiled tree from which the world’s finest bows are made.

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Director

Ward Serrill

Writer

Ward Serrill

Language

Top Cast

C

Charles Espey

Self, bow-maker

P

Paul Siefried

Self, bow-maker

R

Robert Morrow

Self, bow-maker

O

Ole Kanestrom

Self, bow-maker

C

Cody Kowalski

Self, bow-maker

S

Stéphane Tomachot

Self, bow-maker

J

Joséphine Tomachot

Self, bow-maker

N

Noel Burke

Self, bow-maker

J

Johnny Gandelsman

Self, violinist, Brooklyn Rider

C

Colin Jacobsen

Self, violinist, Brooklyn Rider

N

Nicholas Cords

Self, violist, Brooklyn Rider

M

Michael Nicolas

Self, cellist, Brooklyn Rider

J

Joel Link

Self, violinist, Dover Quartet

B

Bryan Lee

Self, violinist, Dover Quartet

M

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt

Self, violist, Dover Quartet

C

Camden Shaw

Self, cellis, Dover Quartet

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