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Masters

Stefano Conia

Stefano Conia was born in Hungary on the 10th January 1946. When young he began studying the violin and became interested in violin-making following the example of his father who has a diploma from the International School of Violin making in Cremona. After finishing high school and his violin studios in Hungary, he moved to Italy and attended the International Violin-making School in Cremona from 1968 until studying with Maestro Sgarabotto, Maestro Morassi and Maestro Bissolotti. He returned to the School as a , teacher of school of Violin Making of Cremona for over 20 years, first as expert in varnish and restoration, then also to teach construction as well. In his workshop, in the heart of the city of Cremona makes his instruments inspired by the models of the classical makers and later using various personal models. In making his instruments he uses carefully chosen aged wood. The shape and arching are classical and the varnish intense. Each piece of every violin is carefully controlled and perfected according to it’s acoustic function. Each instruments has it’s own certificate and guarantee. Maestro Conia has been awarded many prizes in national and international competitions. His instruments are recognized and appreciated throughout the world. He is member and founder of the italian association of Violin-makers (ALI) and the European Association (AEL). More detailed information can be found in the Strad magazine of 1976-77-78, in “La Bottega dei Miracoli” Ed. Stradivari 1982, “Liutai Italiani di ieri e di oggi”, Arte Liutaria di GioBatta Morassi 1984 and 2000, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers 1985, Lütgendorf: Die Geigen und Lautenmacher 1990, A.L.I. Book of Professional Makers 1994 and 2000, Cremonese Violin-Makers of the Late 20th Century of Yasuno Toshitake. http://www.digicolor.net/ali/conia/coniai.htm

Giorgio Scolari

Giorgio Scolari was born in Casalbuttano, in the province of Cremona, on 5 January 1952, and lives and develops his activity as a master violin-maker in via Virgilio n. 1, in Cremona. He attended the International School for Violin Makers in Cremona (IPIALL), where he earned his Diploma in 1970. He was a pupil of Pietro Sgarabotto and Gio Batta Morassi, the one and the other featuring amongst the protagonists of the renaissance of violin-making in Cremona. From 1970 to 1976, Giorgio Scolari worked in Morassi’s workshop in Via Mantova; later he opened his own laboratory in via Trecchi. At present he works, together with his brother Daniele, in their new laboratory in via Virgilio, and is constantly researching new forms, more broadly sonorous, and mastering the technology of wood and the chemistry of varnishes. From 1974 onwards he has been a teacher in the laboratory in the school where he was an attentive and conscientious pupil, where he is also assistant headmaster. He has studied piano and organ and directs choral groups and instrumental ones; he also directs the orchestra of the International School. His production is inspired by the great Cremonese masters of the past, using Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri as models along with his own, and principally his own, models. Each instrument he constructs is the object of careful research and specific evaluation as far as choosing the wood, the cut and the sculpting are concerned, with particular care taken over the thicknesses of the sound boxes and backs, in search of maximum acoustic values. His varnish, produced in his own laboratory, is brilliant, soft and transparent, orange-gold in colour with a yellow undercoat, that evidences the marbling of the maple-wood and the veining of the sound box and is made up of essences and resins that are wholly natural. The instruments that the master violin maker Scolari constructs are mainly violins, violas and cellos, devoting his efforts, upon request, to other string instruments such as double-basses, leg-held violas, guitars, lutes and so on. He also devotes his time to repair-work, with specific competence, of any bow instrument. His workshop, sited in the historical centre of Cremona, is the destination for many pupils of violin-making and many musicians to whom he dedicates some of his time, not begrudging advice on the art of violin construction, in an open-hearted rapport that is rich in human facets... http://www.graffiti.it/Scolari/