William Piper cello, no. 507, Hanbury, Worcestershire | Metzler ViolinsWilliam Piper was born in 1948 in West Bromwich, West Midlands. He started playing the violin aged nine and right from that early time wanted to be a violin maker. In 1964, he left school, aged 16 years old, and was apprenticed to Sydney Evans violin shop in Birmingham staying there for 12 years mainly as a repairer, but was taught violin making by David Evans. He made and sold his first violin when 18 in 1967. He left Sydney Evans in 1977 and worked