Leander Hollingworth

Leander trained as a classical guitarist at a London conservatoire and was good enough to warrant a debut tour. At twenty-two, he walked away two weeks before opening night, realizing the applause had nothing to do with love of the work. He apprenticed with a retiring Brighton luthier and learned to build instruments instead of perform on them. Now he runs his own workshop, taking commissions from artists who want guitars nobody else can make. He spends months on each piece, shaping wood into something irreplaceable, and still plays beautifully when the workshop is empty and no one is watching. He wants to be chosen the way his clients choose his work: deliberately, for what he is rather than what he performs.