God’s hand on his life

Hermann Janzen Photo: Jan McMaster

The violin maker with the burned hands sees the hand of God in his change of vocation. It wasn’t quite a lightning bolt, but it was close!

Hermann Janzen, Brazilian-born son of an accomplished violin maker, loved to work with the wood, the acoustics, the harmonics of his father’s craft. He started making his first violin at age nine. By 13, he had built three violins and a cello.

The family moved to Canada in 1967, when Janzen was 16. When he reached adulthood, he went into construction and eventually owned his own company. He and his wife, Erica, lived in Abbotsford, B.C., and attended King Road MB Church. For many years, he was too busy to make instruments, but bit by bit he resumed his hobby. It is, he admits, his passion.

In 1985, a horrible accident changed his life. He was electrocuted on a jobsite. Unable to break free, Janzen was burned as the current coursed through both hands and traumatized his body. Then suddenly the transformer exploded, the deadly grip of the voltage was gone, and he was thrown into a six-foot-deep ditch.

He had his life, but he had suffered – burned hands and lower arms, heart irregularities, and compromised organs, including the liver. Years later, he still goes for regular tests as doctors monitor his condition.

From deluxe to beater

One day, his doctor warned, “If you don’t get out of construction, you will be dead in two years.” That warning started Janzen on an agonizing decision-making path that ultimately brought him great joy. He and Erica decided to sell their mountainside Abbotsford home, downsize, and move to Mission, across the river where real estate prices were lower. He got rid of his deluxe truck and bought “an old beater.” They simplified their lifestyle.

But lifestyle was only part of the story. “I believe if you’re going to do something, then throw everything you’ve got behind it, to do it well,” Janzen says. He felt a need to study. He wanted to attend master classes to learn the techniques perfected by the legendary 16th century Italian luthier, Andrea Amati.

The couple experienced many reversals and many occasions for prayer in this period. “But God’s hand was in it,” says Janzen. He was able to travel to European centres to acquire the knowledge and skills he needed, even studying under a master who had decided to stop training students.

Janzen’s violin workshop lacks a clock because he becomes so wrapped up in his craft he doesn’t want to be bothered by time. However, he is always happy to be visited there by his children and grandchildren.

He works closely with the Vancouver Academy of Music to do what he can for rising young musicians. And he makes instruments – instruments with a rich, old Italian sound – that sell in the four- and five-figure range to a variety of professional string players. He recently donated a violin for auction at the 2007 Abbotsford Symphony Society fundraiser.

“Today,” he says, “I’m doing well enough that the violin making provides us with a living.” He still drives his old truck. He still needs medical checkups every three months.

“But I know I’ve been bought with a price,” he says, “and my future is secure. I’m a happy man.”