DENNIS YI

Passing on the Heritage, The Untold Story of Guangdong Violin Making

Dennis Yi was born in a small village in the Xiangxi area of the Hunan province. He was the oldest and the most sensible of his four siblings. As a child he would carve wooden dolls and folk musical instruments for his younger sister and brother. In order to please his siblings, he would play music on the handmade instruments.

Over time, this became his greatest joy and he began to desire to make real instrument. In 2002, he left his hometown and came to Guangzhou, which is known as the Town of Music. Because of his interests, he decided to pursue a career in a musical instrument factory. In his first year, he worked as a mold maker and became very skilled, but he was still bent on making musical instruments and eventually resigned from his position.

In 2004, he met Mr. Li Zhijie, the foremost violin paint expert in China and Mr. He Guanghong, who is the golden award winner of the second China National Violin Making Competition and the Outstanding Violin Maker of Guangdong during Music Guangzhou. He decided to learn violin making with Mr. He and devoted himself to the craft so much so that he would forget about eating and sleeping.

After 3 years of intensive study, he finished his first master violin which received the highest praise and accolades from Mr. He En as well as the admiration of teachers and violinists in his region. He was also mentored by Mr. Li Zhijie. As his violins have improved greatly, Yi’s instruments have become very popular in Europe, America, and Asia.