Artist Statement/Biography:
 MICHÈLE ASHLEY was raised in the U.S. and completed her secondary education in France, studying cello as well as ethnomusicology. She attended the International School of Violinmaking in Cremona Italy at the age of 19 where she studied under the tutelage of G.B. Morassi and Pietro Sgarabotto. Graduating in 1975, she established her own violinmaking shop, first in the foothills outside of Parma, and later in the city of Verona. Many of her instruments of that period are being played on in major symphonies throughout Europe and Asia. In 1985 she transferred her activity to Boston, Massachusetts, where she has worked out of her own shop making violins and violas, but focusing primarily on cellos. To date she has made over 130 instruments owned and played by symphony musicians across the US, as well as by students and faculty of the Curtis Institute, the New England Conservatory, and the Julliard School of Music. In 2004, she opened a second shop in Montreal, Quebec, and lives and works between Canada and the US. Ashley’s instruments are recognized for their powerful, even, and focused response and their broad, rich, tonal qualities.