Professional Musician Spends Sabbatical at Southeast

Red Wing, MN (May 11, 2026) – A professional violinist from Ottawa is preparing to wrap up his studies at Minnesota State College Southeast. 

Ethan Balakrishnan, a member of the violin section of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec in Quebec City, took a year-long sabbatical to pursue his studies in Southeast’s Violin Repair and Making program. 

Balakrishnan first began playing violin at age 5, and in his mid-teens, realized his passion for music could be his life’s work. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in music, studying under Grigory Kalinovsky at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. 

“For my whole life I’ve had a very specific idea of the sound I want to create, and I’ve always been obsessive about finding and maintaining the setup parameters on my instrument that will allow me to create this sound,” Balakrishnan said. “It’s fascinating how the tiniest change in the most seemingly insignificant variable of an instrument’s setup can have a huge effect on its sound and playability.” 

Whether in Canada, Indiana or Minnesota, Balakrishnan has lived in climates with cold dry winters and wet hot summers, which wreak havoc on sensitive string instruments. 

“For most professional musicians, a poorly adjusted instrument is a significant drain on quality of life that can start clouding over even non-musical aspects of one’s day-to-day life if the problem isn’t resolved quickly,” Balakrishnan said. 

Balakrishnan wanted to be able to make adjustments to his own instruments, and many of his fellow performers indicated they would entrust him with theirs too if he was properly trained. 

He learned of Southeast’s violin program through research, and the recommendation of Ottawa luthier Guy Harrison, who vouched for the program because he previously worked with instructor Stephen Rossow, and saw the high-quality work produced by Southeast graduates. 

“I’ve been impressed by just how far we’ve been able to go with our repair skills despite coming in with zero woodworking experience,” Balakrishnan said. “The program is very well rounded and intelligently laid out, and Steve is a truly excellent teacher.” 

Balakrishnan said that his work has become finer and more accurate even as the steps in the violin-making process became more challenging. He’s come to appreciate how the instruments work and how to repair them, after learning how they are made. 

It gives him a newfound appreciation for the violin on loan to him from the Canimex Foundation of Drummondville, Canada, an instrument made in 1854.  

“I now find them much more interesting to inspect visually,” he said. “I can look at certain features and imagine what the maker did in the mid-nineteenth century to create them, and I can even notice certain flaws and picture why and how they might have happened.” 

While he’s not allowed to work on that instrument, he has been able to experiment on his personal viola, which dates back to 1932. Calling it a bit of “an experimental sandbox,” Balakrishnan has noticed an improvement by adding a new bridge and soundpost to his viola. 

In addition to honing his instrument building and repair skills, he’s had the chance to perform as a freelance artist with groups in the Twin Cities area, including an opportunity to perform with Snoop Dogg during a Minnesota Vikings game last season, as well as performances with the Joffrey Ballet and Mannheim Steamroller. 

After graduating with his diploma in violin repair later this month, Balakrishnan plans to stop in Ohio and learn about rehairing bows, another maintenance item that vexes many string musicians. 

When he returns home from his sabbatical, Balakrishnan plans to continue to learn from master luthiers in Canada, while continuing to perform regularly. His goal is to optimize the playing experience of his fellow string players by maintaining his technical and musical abilities and continuing to experiment.