Even though her downtown Lafayette shop has become the go-to for musicians across the state, Anya Burgess took her time in seeing herself as a businesswoman.
Burgess, 48, is a musician who happens to be fascinated by the process of building, repairing and restoring violins and other stringed instruments. While musicians are drawn to Sola Violins for Burgess’s expertise, the community at large is drawn to her passion and authenticity.
She has the uncanny ability to engage with the young violinist learning the classics, the aging fiddler playing the region’s more traditional tunes and everyone in between — fostering a culture of music appreciation and education that reverberates far beyond those who play her instruments.
Anya Burgess a violin maker, restorer and player at SOLA Violins on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Lafayette, La..
An unexpected entrepreneur
“I never really envisioned myself as a business owner until I realized I was one,” Burgess said. “Ironically, though, I love the business side of things. I find it fascinating, so I’m not a reluctant business owner anymore, even though I definitely started that way.”
Sola Violins has existed in some form for 22 years, although Burgess didn’t work under that business name until 10 years ago when she opened her downtown Lafayette shop. She quickly outgrew that space and moved into her current location at the corner of Jefferson and Vermilion streets in 2017. Burgess continues to do much of her work at her original shop behind her Arnaudville home, where she lives with her husband and two sons.
Burgess, who employs five people, rents hundreds of stringed instruments to musicians and has repaired and restored thousands more. She’s built about a dozen from scratch.
“Each one has taken me like a year,” Burgess said. “It’s what I do in my spare time.”
Anya Burgess a violin maker, restorer and player works on a customers violin at SOLA Violins on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Lafayette, La..
Burgess grew up in Massachusetts in a creative family — her mother a musician and her father an architect. Burgess played classical piano as a child and picked up traditional Appalachian and Irish violin while studying folklore at Indiana University. She signed up for a violin-making class on a whim, and she’s been hooked to the craft ever since.
“It’s an intense process,” Burgess said. “You’re measuring everything to the tenth of a millimeter — and it’s very calibrated. And yet there’s a huge artistic side of it as well. Violins have standard measurements, but there’s a little room to add your own vision.”
Teach for America brought her to Louisiana
Burgess came to Acadiana in 2000 through Teach for America. Initially placed in the Ϳʷ¼ region, Burgess asked to be moved to a school in the more rural St. Landry Parish, in part because of her interest in the violin and the Cajun and zydeco music that relies heavily on the instrument. The violin is often referred to as the fiddle when played in that style.
Violins and bows line the wall at SOLA Violins on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Lafayette, La..
Once her two-year commitment with the nonprofit organization was up, Burgess leaned into her passion of playing music and working on violins. Burgess, who plays with the Magnolia Sisters and Bonsoir Catin, also identified an opportunity to help other musicians with their instruments. That opportunity would blossom into Sola Violins.
“At that time, in the early 2000s, there really weren’t many options for people to locally have their instruments worked on and maintained,” Burgess said. “And a lot of musicians were just making do with less-than-optimal setups and cracks and just sort of making do. So basically I’ve been busy since I started.”
For years, Burgess’s business had no name, social media presence or storefront. Her customers were loyal, however, and shared referrals with other musicians until Burgess outgrew her home workshop.
Customers have traveled to Burgess from as far away as England, France and Alaska for her expertise. Burgess rarely ships because she believes in supporting small, local shops whenever possible, but sometimes musicians don't have the luxury of having a nearby violin maker. Other times, people seek out Burgess specifically because of her knowledge of Louisiana music.
"For musicians, there's a lot of trust that goes into the relationship with a luthier," Burgess said. "You don't bring a precious instrument to just anyone who says they can work on it. So much skill, precision and good judgment is involved."
Anya Burgess a violin maker, restorer and player works on a customers violin at SOLA Violins on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Lafayette, La..
Strings in schools
Among those who rely on Burgess's expertise are students in the Lafayette and Vermilion parish school systems' strings programs. Lafayette’s program focuses on more classical training while Vermilion’s focuses on more traditional music and playing by ear.
Dragos Filip, who has taught strings at L.J. Alleman Middle and Comeaux High in Lafayette Parish for 10 years, said he can’t imagine life without Sola Violins. Without the local shop, his students and other musicians would have to pay more and wait longer for instruments and repairs to their instruments.
Filip’s students are part of a cultural legacy in south Louisiana, and Burgess enables them to be at the top of their game.
Anya Burgess a violin maker, restorer and player at SOLA Violins on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Lafayette, La..
“Acadiana and music are synonyms,” Filip said. “Anyone can attest to that. String instruments are a part of daily musical life in the Acadiana region — I would say Lafayette, especially. Several of my students have Cajun musician idols in the area, which they try to emulate in their playing very often. That’s a joy to see as a music teacher.”
'They're music hungry'
Hannah Boudreaux was once Filip’s student in the strings program and now, as of January, she is a strings teacher at J. Wallace James Elementary in Lafayette Parish.
For her students, most of whom are just beginning their journeys as musicians, having high-quality instruments that sound good is important. Students often don’t realize the difference between user error and an instrument error when they can’t keep an instrument purchased on Amazon tuned.
“It feels like it’s the cheaper route,” Boudreaux said. “But one thing that should be noted with Anya is they work within your budget. They’re not money hungry. They’re music hungry.”
Sola Violins is also integral to the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, but Burgess has been especially supportive of the organization’s youth orchestra program. She’s provided monetary support via scholarships for the orchestra’s youngest members and musical support by performing alongside the youth orchestra with her band.
A violin waits to be repaired by Anya Burgess at SOLA Violins on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Lafayette, La..
Dana Baker, the orchestra's executive director, became emotional as she talked about the impact Burgess is having on the community through Sola Violins.
“Her legacy is going to be significant,” Baker said. “I think it’s going to be an impact we can’t measure in today’s time.”
But for Burgess, she’s simply doing what she loves and is building the kind of community she wants to be a part of.
“I can’t imagine living in an area that didn’t have a violin shop,” Burgess said. “To me, it just represents the love of culture and music. And I wouldn’t want to live in a place that didn’t keep musicians up and running at their highest level with confidence. I think it just speaks to the value that our community places in its musical culture.”
