Jennifer Halenar is a native of Chattanooga, TN who has been making violins in Nashville since 2004. She began learning to play violin at the age of seven. Several years later, she fell in love with the idea of building instruments after watching her own first full-sized violin being built by a family friend. The child of artist parents who nurtured her creativity in everything, Jennifer brings a keen appreciation for the beauty of the instrument to the bench, as well as a lifelong devotion to making music.

Jennifer gained her early training in several Nashville violin shops. Hungry to learn the craft of string instrument repair and making, she eventually found well-qualified and willing teachers and she apprenticed for several years under John Dailey, a fine maker of violins, violas and celli. After John left Nashville for a job at a prestigious Boston shop, Jennifer was forced out of the nest to continue to learn and build on her own. She has further honed her skills by working with other fine makers through friendships gained attending the Oberlin Violin making workshops, the Violin Society of America (VSA), restoration workshops and Southern Violin Association workshops and maker’s competitions. In 2017 at the Southern Violin Assocation’s Violin Making Competition, Jennifer’s Betts Stradavari model violin won 3rd place workmanship and Honorable Mention for Tone.