Nelle Doak was born in Paris, France in 1934 to a French mother and American father. The family came to the United States shortly before World War II. Nelle graduated from Matawan (New Jersey High School) and came to Ithaca College where, in 1953, she met her future husband, John (Jack) O’Neill ’55 (whose photo “Wild Sierra Iris” also received honorable mention in this contest!). “Some 40 years after our marriage,” Nelle reveals, “we discovered that our high school music teachers, Bob Toft ’44 (now in Garner, North Carolina) and the late Joseph Racina ’45, had been roommates at Phi Mu Alpha!” After graduating from IC, Nelle taught violin and viola, played professionally, and taught public school music for more than 30 years in New York and California. For the past 20 years, she has studied violin making at Edward Campbell’s Chimneys Workshop in Tucson. She has completed and sold more than 30 violins and violas.

Nelle's instruments have received numerous awards at the annual competition of the Violin Makers Association of Arizona International in Tucson, including a second place for tone (viola) at this year’s October competition (www.music-FoodForTheBrain.com/vio.html). She and John own and operate the Carson Valley Violin School from their home in Minden, Nevada.