Jennifer Halenar is a native of Chattanooga who has been making violins in Nashville since 2004. She began learning to play violin at the age of seven. Several years later, she fell in love with the idea of building instruments after watching her own first full-sized violin being built by a family friend. The child of artist parents who nurtured her creativity, Jennifer brings a keen appreciation for the beauty of the instrument to the bench, as well as a lifelong devotion to making music.

Jennifer gained her early training in Nashville strings shops such as The Violin Shop and Williams Fine Violins. Hungry to learn the craft of string instrument repair and making, she found willing teachers at Williams, where she apprenticed for several years under John Dailey, a very fine maker of violins, violas and celli. After John left Nashville for a job at a prestigious Boston shop, Jennifer was forced out of the nest to continue to learn and build on her own. She has further honed her skills by working with Jonathan Cooper in Portland, Maine, as well as other fine makers through friendships gained attending the Oberlin Violin making workshops presented by the Violin Society of America (VSA) for several  summers.