Steven Becker, photographer



Paul Y. Irvin - Instrument Maker
 

After years of playing in school and community bands and orchestras, Paul Irvin was introduced to Bach, Baroque and the harpsichord while studying in college.  Soon after receiving his B.A. in chemistry in 1969, he built his first harpsichord from a kit.  Dissatisfaction with a second kit caused him to abandon it to begin researching the historical harpsichord.  This study resulted in instruments of his own design, based on historical principles.  Word-of-mouth demand turned his hobby into a career of custom designing harpsichords and clavichords, a career now in its twenty-third year.