Michael Fleming

Biography

After graduating in PPP (Philosophy and Psychology) from the Queen’s College, Oxford (1974) Michael Fleming worked for Robert Goble & Son for five years, making early keyboard instruments. Since 1982 he has worked as an independent musical instrument maker, specialising in viols, pre-classical violins and bows. In 1986 he was joint recipient of the Best Maker prize at the Crafts Council Open Exhibition, London. He found that original research was necessary in order to develop his craft. Research became his main passion and in 2001 he was awarded a PhD by the Open University for his thesis “Viol-Making in England c1580-1660”. As a performer on the viol, his first instruction was by Elizabeth Goble and Richard Nicholson in the mid-1970s; he is now a competent and enthusiastic treble, tenor and bass violist. However, as was normal in the early days of the instrument, this activity is principally for the entertainment of himself and his friends, rather than for a non-playing audience. His particular interests in music for performing resemble his organological and instrument-making interests; they reflect his curiosity about, and respect for, the original producers and users of that music. His greatest love is English music, and performing from facsimilies or at least original notation is preferred, as he finds this to be a major aid to understanding, realising and enjoying the music. He was a member of an Expert Group drafting the Museums and Galleries Commission guidance: Standards in the Museum Care of Musical Instruments, (published 1995). He is an active member of the Viola da Gamba Society and has been its chairman since 1997. In 2004 he was appointed the editor of the Galpin Society Journal (international journal of organological research).

Research Interest

Viols as material and cultural objects in early modern England. Early modern organology and iconography.