George taught stringed instruments and school orchestra in west Texas public schools for more than thirty years. He served as Principal Viola in the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra for thirty years. During most of that time there were no violin shops in the area, and he found it necessary to learn instrument repair and to take an active role in finding suitable instruments for his pupils. He retired from teaching and opened his violin shop in 1979. George moved to Albuquerque, NM in 2005 after many years of helping customers in the West Terxas area. George passed away in 2013, and is greatly missed by all of us.
Brian Gum, native of Lubbock, is a graduate of Texas Tech University. As a professional violinist, Brian has been a member of the Tulsa Philharmonic, the Chattanooga Symphony, the Wheeling [WV] Symphony, the Mississippi Symphony, the Meridian [MS] Symphony, Mississippi Opera, and the Mobile [AL] Opera. As a string educator, he taught in the Jackson [MS] public schools and for fifteen years was an Orchestra Director in the Meridian [MS] public schools. As a chamber musician, Brian performed in the Nova String Quartet, the Trillium Trio, and the Meridian [MS] Symphony Trio. Brian has studied string repair with Jacob Priddy of Herrin, IL, Timothy Poling of New Orleans, LA, and has attended the string repair workshops of Hans Nebel in western Massachusetts. Currently, in addition to his work at the shop, Brian is a member of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra.