Isabelle Wilbaux – Violin Maker

For over three decades, Isabelle Wilbaux has been making violins, violas and cellos that are renowned for their power, warmth and beauty of tone. Her instruments are currently played by some of the world’s most distinguished musicians, including the Trio Fibonacci, violinist Laura Andriani and cellist David Ellis of the Alcan Quartet.

Born in Tournai, Belgium, Isabelle Wilbaux discovered the world of violin making at the early age of 13 when her grandmother gave her a magazine about Cremona violin makers. This clearly had a profound impact on her as she eventually decided to pursue this direction after high school, enrolling at the École Nationale de Lutherie in Mirecourt France. She then moved on to the International Violin Making School in Cremona, Italy, where she received her diploma in 1988. She proceeded to study for several years with Philippe Bodart in Besançon (France) and Jose-Maria Lozano in Madrid. After completing her education, she opened her first workshop in her home town of Tournai, then in Brussels, and finally in Montreal, where she has flourished since 1998.

Over the past 25+ years, Wilbaux has won more than a dozen prizes and awards from The Violin Society of America, the Concours international de lutherie et d’archèterie de la ville de Paris, the Cremona International Violin Making Competition, the Mittenwald International Violin Making Competition, and a host of others in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

In 1998, Wilbaux won the Bourse de la Fondation Belge de la Vocation, which enabled her to build a quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello) from a single tree. Her wish is that this family of instruments will all be played together one day.