Jan Bobak was born in 1951 in Poronin, Poland. He studied violin making at the Technical College of Violin Making in Nowy Targ, Poland. After completing his studies, he worked for two years under Tetsuo Matsuda in the workshop of William Harris Lee in Chicago.
In 1986, Bobak was awarded first prize for his violin at the International Wieniawski Competition. A year later, he returned to his homeland and opened his own workshop in Nowy Targ.
He now works together with his son Grzegorz, who studied at the violin making school in Chicago. Bobak’s work is based primarily on “Guarneri” models from the tradition of old Italian violin making. Jan Bobak is a member of the Polish Violin Makers’ Association.
