The Bowmakers: The Most Important Instrument You’ve Never Heard Of

The story of the most important instrument you’ve never thought of. The Bowmakers 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 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 itself. The Bowmakers follows the journey from the workshops of the virtuosos of the trade, to the birthplace of the bow in France, and to Brazil, home to the tree from which the world’s finest bows are made.