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At its Commencement Ceremony on May 16, Minnesota State College Southeast presented its 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award for the Red Wing campus to Brian Christianson, who graduated from the college’s String Instrument Repair – Violin Specialty program in 2000.

After graduating, Christianson built a distinguished career in Nashville, servicing violin-family instruments from student-level to professional while performing on fiddle and mandolin with nationally known bluegrass and acoustic music groups.

Christianson worked as a luthier at The Violin Shop in Nashville, TN for many years. In 2011, he opened The Fiddle House, a full-service string shop and a gathering space for many musicians. The Fiddle House presented musical acts from all over the nation and hosted bluegrass, old-time and Irish jams several times a week.

While Christianson is renowned as a performer, he has continued his dedication to the art of violin repair and making. He has attended workshops at the Violin Society of America’s annual conference, the Southern Violin Association Luthier Conference, and the “Learning Trade Secrets” luthier conference.

He has also restored some of the most famous, historic instruments in American folk music – violins that belonged to Vassar Clements, Benny Martin, and “Uncle Penn” (Bill Monroe’s mentor, Pendleton Vandiver).

“Brian Christianson is celebrating his 25th anniversary as a professional luthier just as Minnesota State College Southeast marks its 50th year of teaching lutherie,” said President Marsha Danielson. “His ability to recognize and uphold the highest standards of craftsmanship represents the core values that Southeast’s string instrument programs have instilled in hundreds of graduates over the past five decades.”

Christianson has performed in countless fundraisers for schools, churches, animal shelters, Second Harvest Food Bank, and service organizations.

“To our graduates, especially those emerging from the violin and guitar repair and building programs: Every instrument is a story waiting to be told,” Christianson said during the commencement. “Today it continues with all Southeast graduates. Because you are also stories waiting to be told. Whether you go on to restore the past or build what’s next, know this: your work matters — and the music it makes, both literal and metaphorical — can echo for a lifetime.”

Originally from Austin, Christianson, his wife, and their daughter recently moved back to Minnesota to be closer to their families.