Unprofitable Instruments

Kate McWilliams enjoys researching and recreating underappreciated medieval instruments. She has been building medieval instruments for over ten years. She has exhibited her instruments at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and the Madison Early Music Festival. While largely self-taught, she has spent two years studying with luthier Daniel Larson. Her current research interest is the British Museum Citole (formerly known as a gittern), one of the sole surviving instruments from the fourteenth century. This study reveals valuable insights into the practices of medieval stringed instrument makers. She has built replicas of this remarkable instrument, though with only a sampling of the intricate carvings. Her article,"The British Museum Citole: An Organological Study" was published in the 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society.