Malaysian wins international award for making medieval music instrument

Tan says nacre, or mother-of-pearl, and animal bones are used as decorations on handmade violins. Photos: Andrew Tan

Despite it being his first attempt at making a hurdy gurdy from scratch, Andrew Tan won the top prize at a competition recently, much to his own surprise.

A hurdy gurdy is a medieval European instrument and Italy-based luthier Tan clinched the gold award for his replication of the instrument at the Malta International Baroque Instruments Competition in January.