Domenico Montagnana (1686-1750), sometimes called “the mighty Venetian,” was actually born in the small town of Lendinara, Italy. Although his father was a shoemaker, Montagnana broke from family tradition and began making violins. It is unclear who Montagnana’s first mentor was, but by 1701, he had moved to Venice to take advantage of the city’s …
Matteo Goffriller (c.1659-1742) is the father of Venetian violin making. Born in the town of Bressanone (Brixen) in Tyrol, a region around the Italian-Austrian border, Goffriller may have received his initial training from Matthias Albani. In 1685, Goffriller moved to Venice to apprentice under Mathias Kaiser, another Tyrolean violin maker. He became very close with …
Benjamin Spilman’s professional history with string instruments dates back to 1974, when he began performing violin repairs at a shop in Oakland, CA. Five years later, he opened his own repair shop in Albany and then proceeded to start making instruments in 1983. Shortly after his initial foray into violin-making, Spilman met Thomas Oliver Croen, an …
Second generation immigrant Marinos Glitsos showed a passion for music at an early age. He began studying cello, and under the influence of his father, a master carpenter, Glitsos developed an appreciation for the instrument’s construction. Glitsos earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Superior before going on to apprentice with luthier Daniel …
With a history spanning over a hundred years, W.E. Hill & Sons was the preeminent British violin- and bow-making firm of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Luthier William Ebsowrth Hill founded the London workshop in 1880, and his skill for restoration immediately set him apart. Under Hill’s son, Alfred, the firm became known for expert …
The Gand & Bernardel workshop brought together three top tier violin makers in one Parisian atelier: Charles Nicolas Eugène Gand, Gustave Bernardel, and Ernest Bernardel. Gand began his business partnership with the Bernardel brothers after his own brother and business partner, Charles Adolphe Gand, passed in 1866. All three luthiers were linked through their shared …
The son of famed Mirecourt archetier Charles Nicolas Bazin, Charles Louis Bazin (1881-1953) grew up steeped in the family business. Bazin trained under his father, eventually taking over the atelier in 1907 at the age of twenty-six. World War I briefly paused Bazin’s business; he was called to serve in the infantry, and the war …
Cremonese luthier Andrea Guarneri (1623-1698) holds a special place in music history as both the founder of the Guarneri lutherie dynasty and a champion of the Amati violin-making tradition. Guarneri apprenticed under Nicolò Amati in two distinct periods: 1641-1646 and 1650-1654. The two makers worked together so closely that some of their violins are indistinguishable …
Giovanni Battista Ceruti Luthier Giovanni Battista Ceruti (1756-1817) helped ensure the survival of the Cremonese violin-making tradition. However, he came to lutherie relatively late and likely did not start violin-making until at least his mid-thirties. For this reason, not much is known of Ceruti’s apprenticeship, but he likely studied under local makers like Alessandro Maggi, …
Giovanni Battista Ceruti – Violin Maker (1756-1817) Read More »
Lorenzo Storioni Lorenzo Storioni (1744-1816) played a pivotal role in preserving Cremona’s violin-making tradition. Born the same year as Guarneri del Gesù’s death, Storioni seems to have felt a personal connection with the master, crafting many instruments inspired by Guarneri’s models. His workshop provided a training ground for Giovanni Battista Ceruti and Giovanni Rota, who …
