For 500 years, violin-makers have crafted their instruments by hand. But for the past three years, three Minnesotans have been crafting them with the help of a CT scanner and computer-aided machine.

CHICAGO — An online connection led to a special commission between a Chicago-area musician and the first known Black woman violin-maker in the country. “I had never ever considered the hands that ...

Hunched over his workbench, Tan Chin Seng shaves the wooden top plate of a violin, removing thin layers with slow, deliberate strokes. The work is meditative, out of the public eye. For Tan, ...