Sandro Asinari was born in the province of Cremona in 1969. Attracted as he was by music and musical instruments, at the age of 14 he enrolled in the International School of Violin Making in Cremona, where he studied under Vanna Zambelli. Having received his diploma in 1987, Sandro Asinari went on to study at the CEE Bottega Scuola under the guidance of Maestro Gio Batta Morassi, eventually opening his own workshop in Cremona in 1991. He participated in numerous violin making competitions and was a finalist of the competitions of Moscow, Bagnacavallo and Dolny Kubin. At the Baveno competition in 1991 he won the Best Young Violin Maker award, First and Second prizes in the violin category, Second Prize in the viola category and Special Mention for the best sound quality. In 1997 he won Third Prize in the cello category and the Best Varnish prize. At the 10th Cremona Triennial Competition in 2003 he received a mention of honor for a viola, while at the 11^th Wieniawski violin making competition in Poznań in 2006 he received Second Prize. He also received Second Prize at the Nacod competition as well as an award for the best workmanship in 2008. That same year, he won the Arvenzis violin competition. In 2009 he was a finalist in the viola category at the “Eufonia” European competition. He is a teacher at the International School of Violin Making in Cremona, member of the Consortium of Violinmakers “Antonio Stradivari” Cremona and secretary of the Italian Luthery Association (ALJ). His instruments are inspired by the great masters of the antique Cremonese school, Antonio Stradivari in particular, yet show inventiveness, personality and style. They are especially appreciated by Italian conservatory teachers, students and orchestral players, as well as in Japan, the USA and Taiwan.

Paul Bailly (b. 13 Apr. 1844 in Mirecourt; d. 20 Nov. 1907 in Paris), pupil of Jules Gillard, Prosper Gabasse, P. G. Grandjon and Francois Vuillaume, who sent him to work for his brother, J. B. Vuillaume, in Paris. Later B. worked in Lille, Douai (where he got the title of Music Academy supplier, 1869), Mirecourt, Paris, Brussels, America, Rheims, London and for Harry Dykes in Leeds. Finally he settled in Paris in 1898, where he got wide recognition for his instruments patterned after old masters (including English ones), mainly Stradivari’s “Messiah”. In total he built over 3000 bowed instruments characteristic for their marvelous tone and dark red varnish that were awarded 10 medals at exhibitions in France and Australia. After his death, his workshop was run by his daughter and pupil, Jenny, one of the first well-known French woman luthier. He applied printed labels with a handwritten signature: 10 Medailles Or, Vermeil, Argent et Bronze / A Paris Sydney Malbourne etc./ No... Paul Bailly / Luthier / Ancien élève de J. B. Vuillaume, de Paris / 197, rue de Grenelle PARIS Année 19..; Paul Bailly luthier à Mirecourt, Vosges / Élève de J. B. Vuillaume cie Paris / Luthier de l’Academie de musique de Douai.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 27, 1990 (T. Drescher), p. 23

Józef Bartoszek (b. 18 Mar. 1940 in Zakopane; d. 10 Dec. 1997 in the same place) learned violin making at the Secondary School of Art Technology in Zakopane, which he finished in 1959. In 1959–1975 he worked as a teacher at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ, while manufacturing instruments on his own account. In 1961 he trained in the workshops of Czech luthiers, thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Culture and the Arts. In 1982–1990 he resided in Austria, where he mainly worked as conservator and corrector. His creative output is extremely rich. In all, he produced over 300 instruments, including violins, 55 violas, 50 cellos, over 40 double basses and 12 quartets. In the 1960s he also built several dozen children’s instruments to a commission from the Ministry of Culture and the Arts. He took part in every edition of the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań between 1962 and 1977, receiving First and Fourth Prize in 1977. He also took part in several editions of the International String Quartet Competition in Liege, where in 1963 he won the gold medal for the youngest finalist. He was a juror of many national and international competitions, including every edition of the Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition; the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań (in the last of  these as chair), and the violin making competition in Freiburg in 1996. He was a member of the violin makers’ section of the H. Wieniawski Musical Society in Poznań.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004)

Karl Friedrich Ludwig Bausch Jun. (b. 10 Nov. 1829 in Dessau; d. 7 Apr. 1871 in Pabsdorf, n. Königstein); a son and pupil of famous bow maker Ludwig Christian August B. (1805–1871), he mainly made violins. After completing his apprenticeship, he practiced in New York, then established his own workshop in Leipzig. In 1860 he joined his father's firm (Ludw. Bausch & Sohn), taken over by his younger brother Otto Julius (1841–1875) after the death of Bausch Sen. He applied printed labels reading: Ludovicus Bausch filius / fecit Lipsiae anno 18(60) [with monogram LB under a cross in double circle]; ADOLF PAULUS / LUDW. BAUSCH & SOHN / LEIPZIG / Instrumente. Bogen. Seiten. Etuis etc. / Reparaturen.

Bibliography: W.L. v. Lütgendorff , Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 1, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 35; R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 1, (Bruxelles 1951), p. 23

Wojciech Jacek Bętkowski (b. 27 Feb. 1952 in Siepraw near Kraków) studied violin making at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ (1967–1972). He then worked at the Lower Silesia Stringed Instrument Factory in Lubin, before joining Jan Pawlikowski’s atelier in Kraków in 1995. He has built over 120 instruments, including violins, viols and cellos. He participated in Polish national and international violin making competitions in Poznań, Hradec Králové, and Cremona, reaching their second rounds. He applies handwritten labels with the inscriptions: WOJCIECH BĘTKOWSKI / LUBIN 1991; and printed labels with floral ornaments: WB / Zbudował: / Wojciech Bętkowski / Siepraw 2002 r.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004) pp. 62, 65

Mieczysław Bielański (b. 4 Oct. 1914 in Nowica, near Stanisławów, Ukraine; d. 9 Nov. 1983 in Wrocław), son of Karol and Felicia, self-taught violin maker, founding member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers and vice president of the union’s Board (1970–76). He finished his education in middle school. He built his first instrument in 1932. In 1952 he earned his journeyman license under F. Pruszak in Warsaw. In 1954 (1952?) he opened a violin maker’s workshop in Wrocław at ul. Kosynierów Gdyńskich 75/4. His creative output comprises over 110 (220?) violins, violas and cellos combining the style of A. Stradivari with individual features, such as flat arching; deeply concave, Secession style C-bouts; and plates with high, plastic edges. He applied alcohol-based varnishes in golden-orange shades and printed labels with the following inscription: OPUS / 18 / M. Bielański / Wrocław / 1955. He took part in a few editions of the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1957 – special award, 1967, 1972 – Fifth Prize, 1981 – as juror). In 1960 he took part in the Quartet Making Competition in Liège and served as juror of the 1st Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1979). In 1966 he presented a violin made that year at the "Polish Musical Instruments" exhibition in Warsaw. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Gold Cross of Merit, and an Honorary Award for Services to Culture. Married to Halina.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004);  B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Hugues Émile Blondelet (b. 1875; d. 1928 in Mirecourt, France). In 1890, at fifteen years old, he began training with the famous violin making atelier of Jérome Thibouville Lamy (JTL) in Mirecourt. In 1908 he became one of the firm’s directors in Paris. Instruments bearing the name of the atelier and of Blondelet himself belonged to the most expensive at the time. How much he was personally engaged in their making, we do no know. Instruments signed both by him and JTL were also made after Blondelet’s death. In 1923 he was awarded Grand Prix of the Marseille exhibition, the Legion of Honor, the Cross of War and the Order of the Academic Palms. He was also chairman of the jury at the violin making competitions in Rio de Janeiro (1922), Gand (1923), Barcelona (1923) and Strasbourg (1924). He applied printed labels reading: H. Emile Blondelet, luthier à Paris, G n 139, année 1928; Grand Prix 1922, Marseille, légion d’honneur, croix du guerre, palmes académiques; President du jurz hors concours, Rio de Janeiro1922, Gand 1923, Barcelone 1923, Strasbourg 1924.

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 3, Bruxelles 1985, p. 19

Franciszek Borowiecki (Borówka-Borowiecki) (b. 17 Sept. 1868 in Niwki, Kielce region; d. 6 May 1962 in Lublin), son of Piotr, a wheelwright, and Wiktoria née Karcz; a carpenter, self-taught violin maker, and founding member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers. In 1885–87 he trained as carpenter in Zawiercie while studying sculpting an drawing with H. Kuder. Subsequently, he was an apprentice in the carpentry and sculpting workshop of R. Świeży. From 1888 to 1889 he trained with M. Śmigrodzki in Częstochowa, where he earned his journeyman license in 1889(?). He also studied the violin with a musician by the name Richter in Częstochowa and Professor Sachse in Zawiercie. In 1914–15 he studied the cello with Professor Liliental in Lublin. He built his first violin in 1893 according to A. Lehman’s textbook. Encouraged by S. Barcewicz, in 1901 he decided to focus exclusively on making instruments and opened a workshop and store in Zawiercie. In 1909 he moved his business to Częstochowa, then – in 1910 – to Lublin, to ul. Królewska 10 (6), where he settled down. His output comprises over 100 violins, 15 violas, 15 cellos and 2 double basses. He modelled them on old Italian instruments, in particular Stradivari’s, retaining some individual features. He did not use prefabricated components. The palette of his varnishes ranged from amber to dark cherry. Sometimes he would replace the scroll with a carved head. From 1925 on he used printed labels instead of handwritten ones (eg. Korygował Franciszek Borówka / w Lublinie 1914 roku [Corrected by Franciszek Borówka / in Lublin in the year 1914] on a Groblicz violin in the Music Instrument Museum in Poznań, inv. no. MNP I 487), and changed the first name from Borówka to Borowiecki (eg. Franciszek Borowiecki / wykonał w Lublinie / Roku Pańskiego 19 [ Made in Lublin / by Franciszek Borowiecki / in the year of Lord 19.]). Among the musicians who played his instruments were I. Lotto, S. Barcewicz, P. Kochański, H. Marteau, J. Kubelík, K. Wiłkomirski, E. Umińska, I. Dubiska, S. Jarzębski, S. Namysłowski, B. Huberman, H. Palulis, and J. Rakowski. Most of them wrote letters of commendation to the maker. In 1909 he received a bronze medal in the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Częstochowa for a violin with a carved female head, in 1929 – two gold medals at the National General Exhibition in Poznań for a violin and a cello (he exhibited a few violins, a viola, and 2 cellos), in 1936 – First Prize for a violin and Grand Medal for a string quartet built in 1922–32 and his work as luthier at the 1936 Polish National Violin Making Exhibition in Kraków. He took part in the 1934 Poznań International Fair and showcased his quartets at the 1954 International String Quartet Competition in Liège and the 1952 "Violin in Poland" exhibition in Poznań. Awarded the Gold Cross of Merit (1955), Lublin Artistic Award (1956) and an excellence in craft honorary award from the Polish Craft Association (1962), he was one of the best Polish luthiers of the 20th century. Occasionally he played the violin and the viola as part of the orchestra of the Lublin Music Society. Having married Marianna née Sukiennik in 1893, he had eight children: Honorata (1895–1953), Bronisława (1899–1918), Kazimierz Józef (1904–1987), a lawyer, who ran his late father’s workshop until 1987, Lucyna Marianna (b. 1906), Władysława Sławomira (1910–1984), a violin maker based in Radom, Anna Zofia (b. 1913), and two other who died in childhood. Instruments, their parts and tools retrieved from his workshop are now held in the Museum of Folk Music Instrument in Szydłowiec (inv. no. MLIM 1081–1099, MLIM/MS 1103–1106). He was buried in Lublin.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004);  B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Bernardo Calcagni, or Bernardus Calcanius, as his Latinized labels read, was perhaps the finest Genoese violin maker of the 18th century. He was active there c.1710–1760. Most probably he was a pupil of one of the three Tyrolean violin makers who had settled in Genoa by the end of the 17th c.: Christopher Rittig, Martinus Heel or Paul Erhard. From c. 1720 he was a collaborator of Antonio Pazarini. His instruments are carefully made, based on the model of Stradivari. They are finished with beautiful golden, orange-red, or – less often – yellow varnish, with printed labels reading BERNARDIUS CALCANIUS / fecit Genuae Anno (1710); …. (1750). [Maltese cross in a circle]. Giuseppe Cavaleri was his pupil.

Bibliography: W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart (Tutzing 1990), p. 83

António Capela (b. 25 May 1932 in Anta Espinho, Portugal), son and pupil of Domingos Capela (1904–1976). Thanks to a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, he apprenticed with Etienn Vatelot in Paris in 1961 studying restoration and later with the Morizot brothers in Mirecourt learning the art of violin making. Thanks to the same scholarship he studied at the Violin Making School in Cremona with Pietro Sgarabotta and Sacconi in 1964–1966. His instruments are well known all over the world. He makes violins after Stradivari’s and Amati’s models, but mainly after a Gasparo da Salo from the Wurlitzer Collection, as well as Stradivari and Montagnana models from the collection of the National Conservatory of Portugal. He was awarded at the International Quartets Competition in Liège in 1963, the Cremona competition (1966, 1967, 1969) and the H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań, winning Second Prize (First was not awarded) in 1967 and all main prizes together with his father Domingos in 1972. He runs a workshop in his family town of Anta. His son, Joaquim António, is also a violin maker.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff (T. Drescher), Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1990) p. 85; http://upmagazine-tap.com/en/pt_artigos/capela-the-violin-maker/# (2016-10-11)

Domingos Ferreira Capela (b. 25 May 1904 in Anta, Espinho, Portugal; d. 12 Nov. 1976 in the same place) was a cooper, furniture maker, and self-taught violin maker. In 1824 he began repairing violins for local bands and musicians. He then went on to construct new instruments. His first violins were made from materials of lesser quality. With time, he perfected his craft and selection of wood to the point of winning First and Second Prizes at the 1972 International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. (His son and pupil António won Third and Fourth Prize at the same competition.) He build over 200 instruments based on classical models by Stradivari, Amati, Guarnerius del Gesu and Stainer. He applied printed labels reading: Domingos F. Capela, ANTA-ESPINHO-PORTUGAL, ANO 19(74) and stamped CAPELA PORTUGAL inside on the back.

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 2, (Bruxelles 1954), p. 9; W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff (T. Drescher), Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1990), p. 85

Douglas C. Cox (b. 1948), American violin maker, graduate of the State Violin Making School in Mittenwald, Germany. For ten years he was a manager of the repairing department and main restorer with J. Bradley Taylor, Inc. in Boston. He established his own workshop in Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1985. He has been building instruments since 1981, so far creating over 800 violins, violas and cellos. They won awards of The Violin Society of America and were played by many professional classical, baroque and jazz violinists. Many are exact copies of unusual or unique instruments by the old masters, studied with the help of audio-spectral analysis, density analysis as well as analysis of material modifications. He is the author of the following papers: The Baroque Violin (Journal of the Violin Society of America VIII.1, 1984: 57-70) and Copying the Harrison Stradivari (Journal of the Violin Society of America XI.3, 1992: 83-112).

Andrzej Czernik-Gracka (b. 1 Mar. 1963 in Zakopane) has been interested in wood processing since his childhood. He started out in his father’s workshop, then studied lutherie at the A. Kenar State Secondary School of Art in Zakopane, graduating in 1983. He also consulted Franciszek and Stanisław Marduła, Jan Łacka and Andrzej Janik. He practiced in a renowned violin making firm in the USA from 2004 to 2005. He runs his own atelier in Bukowina Tatrzańska. He built around 200 instruments, violins, violas and cellos, highland bowed instruments, bows and historical instruments with carved heads. He was a finalist of the 1996 International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań, and took part in a lutherie exhibition in Hradec Králové in 1985, a post-competition exhibition in Poznań in 1996, the Artistic Lutherie of Podhale exhibition in Zakopane in 2000, as well as exhibitions in Książ and Kraków in 2007. He applies handwritten labels: Andrzej Czernik Gracka / Bukowina Tatrzańska 2003 r. Member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1987.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), p. 71; http://www.andrzejczernik.pl/pl/home-7 (06.12.2016)

After completing her secondary education in 1989, Ulrike Dederer (b. 1969 in Stuttgart) began four-year studies at the International Violin Making School in Cremona under Vincenzo Bissoloti. In the last year of her studies she practiced in the atelier of Francesco Bissoloti. After graduation in 1993 she passed her journeyman exam in Mittenwald. For the next four years she practiced with the Jecklin firm in Zürich, learning basic techniques of reparation and restoration of violins and bows. She subsequently broadened her knowledge and experience in that field, working seven years in the Machold firm in Vienna from 1993 onwards. She consulted, among others, the well-known bow constructor Thomas Gerbeth. She passed her master craftsman exam in Innsbruck in 2002. In 2005 she moved with her family to Zürich, where she opened her own atelier. Since 2008 she has been making new instruments in the modern and baroque style, drawing on traditional technologies used by the Cremona’s masters. She has also consulted Francois Denis, Koen Padding, Roger Hargrave, Sam Zygmuntovicz and other colleagues. Her instruments won prizes at a range of international violin making competitions: she was a finalist and came first in the sound quality category in Prague in 1993, she won Third Prize at the 2011 H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań, reached the finals of the Etienne Vatelot competition in Paris the same year, and was awarded First Prize in the viola category at the 2012 Stradivari competition (triennial) in Cremona. In 2016 she served as a juror at the International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. She is a member of the Swiss Association of Violin Makers (SVGB).

Bibliography: http://dederer.ch/violins/tag/kachel/; http://dederer.ch/violins/ (accessed 2016-12-03)

Giovanni Dollenz (b. 1800; d. ca.1850) was a pupil of Storionis working in Trieste. He made good violins, violas and cellos, as well as bows. He applied yellow-red varnish and labels framed with floral ornaments and reading: GIOVANNI DOLLENZ  Fecit / in Trieste anno 18(32). He had a son, Giuseppe (1832–1892), also violin maker based in Trieste.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 109

Annibale Fagnola (b. 1865 in Montiglio Monferrato near Torino; d. 1939 in Torino), one of the best Italian violin makers of the first half of the 20th c. He first worked as a self-taught guitar maker in his home town. Around 1890 he was recorded in Torino at via Tomaso 7. After his first wife’s death, he returned to Montiglio. Having remarried, he moved to Torino in 1893 and became a pupil of violin maker Marengo Romano Rimaldi. From 1899 he ran his own atelier at vicolo Scuderie Reali 3. He primarily made wonderful copies of Stradivari, Presenda, Rocca or Guadagnini violins, often difficult to distinguish from the originals even for experts. He soon gained recognition and won prizes at exhibitions in Geneva and Milano (1906), as well as a golden medal in Torino (1911) for his quartet. With time he developed his own models and style: his best instruments are dated to the 1920s. From ca.1905 he applied his own printed labels (Hannibal Fagnola fecit / Taurini anno Domini 1(90.). He would also sign in India ink inside the instrument.

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 1, (Bruxelles 1951), p. 100; W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart, (Tutzing 1990), p. 158

Giuseppe Ferrari (b. 5 Oct. 1900, Ferrara, Italy; d. 1970 in the same place) was an accountant and bank director. A student of the local G. Frescobaldi conservatory under Gino Neri, he later earned a degree in economics. He often visited a local workshop run by Ettore Sofritti where he befriended Anselmo Gotti and became his pupil. After 25 years he returned to his home town and deepened his violin making knowledge. He made his first violin in 1949 and opened a workshop in Rome in the same year. In 1955 he had already made 30 violins, 2 viols and a cello. His instruments were inspired by the Neapolitan school along with the models of Guarneri, Montagna, Amati and Stradivari. At the 1953 Milan exhibition he showed a violin which was highly appreciated for its finishing and sound. At the 1865 Cremona Biennale he exhibited a violin, viol and a cello. Used handwritten labels reading Ferrari Giuseppe da Ferrara / fece in Roma 1953.

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 2 (Bruxelles 1959), pp. 14-15

Gennaro (Januario) Gagliano (b. c.1680 (1700?) in Naples; d. after 1768 (1763?) in the same place), second son and student of Alessandro Gagliano, possibly the best, certainly the most versatile, craftsman of the family. He used many models, mostly based on Amati and Stradivari’s instruments. His violins were meticulously finished, with perfect varnish, and a beautiful, loud sound. Not many instruments signed by him have survived (Januario Gagliano Filius / Alexandri fecit Napoli 1728) but there are many unsigned copies of the old masters he made sometimes imitating the original label as well.

Bibliography: W. Kamiński, Gagliano, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, vol. efg, ed. E. Dziębowska (Kraków 1987), p. 210; C. Beare, Gagliano, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, 2nd ed., ed. L. Libin, vol. 2 (Oxford 2014), p. 370

Raffaele (b. c.1790; died Dec. 1857) and Antonio II (b. after 1790; d. 27 May 1860) Gagliano, sons and pupils of Giovanni, brothers of Nicola, from the  famous multigenerational violin making family, active in Naples during the first half of the 19th c. They also worked independently. Most of their instruments seem to have been made hurriedly (they competed with instruments made in Germany and Bohemia using the domestic system) and not from the best tonewood; they have slapdash carved scrolls and instead of purfling on the back they a scratched out and painted imitation. Yet, they still amaze with their beautiful sound following from the family’s traditional construction model perfected over many centuries. They applied printed labels reading RAFFAELE ed ANTONIO GAGLIANO / Quodam Giovanni Napoli 18.. (Rafaele & Antonio Gagliano, sons of Giovanni, Neapol 18…).

Bibliography: W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart (Frankfurt AM Main 1922), pp. 153-156; Ch. Beare, Gagliano, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, 2nd ed., ed. L. Libin, vol. 2 (Oxford 2014), p. 370

The Gand Brothers, Charles Adolphe (b. 11 Dec. 1812; d. 24 Jan 1866) and Charles Nicolas Eugene (b. 5 June 1825; d. 5 Feb. 1892) were sons and pupils of Charles François G. (1787–1845), working as partners in Paris in 1855–1866. They built a large number of excellently finished instruments with a very good tone, gaining recognition, titles of instrument maintainers to the royal court and the Paris Conservatory, a golden medal at the 1855 Paris Exhibition, and finally the Legion of Honor in 1862. They applied printed labels reading: GAND FRÈRES Luthiers de la Musique de l’Empereur / et du Conservatoire Imperial de Musique / №… Paris 18… After Charles Adolph's death, his brother formed a partnership with Ernest-Auguste Bernardel (b. 1826; d. 27 Jan. 1904) under the name Brothers Gand & Bernardel, which made over 2000 instruments. Gand was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1878 and was named official supplier to the Belgian and Spanish courts.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 157

Władysław Gąsienica “Makowski” (b. 10 July 1935 in Murzasichle near Zakopane; d. 11 Oct. 1993 in Kraków). Having completed the Secondary School of Music in Katowice, he developed an interest in violin making during the 1960s. He trained with Józef Świrek in Katowice (1969–1973), then under Franciszek Marduła in Zakopane and Piotr Kubas in Kraków. In 1976 he opened his own workshop in Kraków. He dealt in correcting, maintenance and repairs yet mostly focused on making instruments. Overall, he built over 40 stringed instruments, including around 10 violas. Initially drawing from A. Stradivari’s style, from 1976 he started to channel J. Guarneri del Gesu, especially his 1735 models. He used oil-alcoholic varnishes in saturated colours: mainly gold-cherry and gold-brown hues. In 1977 he took part in the 5th H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań, receiving a diploma for participation in the second round.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004)

Roman Tomasz Głogowski (b. 20 Nov. 1962 in Nowy Targ) studied violin making at the atelier of Andrzej Bednarski in his home town (1982–1987). He also trained at the A. Kenar State Art School in Zakopane (1982–1984). He ran his own atelier in the village of Ząb near Poronin, in the Tatra mountains.  He made over 170 instruments, including over 125 violins, some violas, and over 8 cellos. At the 1987 National A. Stradivari Violin Making Competition in Poznań his violin was awarded Fourth Prize, while at the 1994 W. Kamiński competition in Poznań he won First Prize in the ½ violin category. He also took part in the International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1991 (second stage) and in 2001 (finalist, 13th place). He showed his instruments at the 2000 exhibition Artistic Lutherie of Podhale. He applies handwritten labels: Roman Głogowski / Ząb 2003 r. Member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1984.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), p. 79

Francesco Gobetti (baptised 4 Jan. 1675 in Udine, Italy; d. 10 July 1723 in Venice), originally a shoemaker, he became an apprentice of luthier Matteo Goffriller after 1702 and practiced as violin maker until 1717, when he retired for health reasons. Despite a short career and a small number of instruments produced, he became one of the most eminent violin makers of the Venice school. In addition to his own models, he also made excellent copies of other makers’ models.

Bibliography: C. Beare, Gobetti Francesco, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, ed. L. Libin, vol. 2, (Oxford ²2014), pp. 439–440

Eugeniusz Tomasz Gosiewski (b. 21 Dec. 1901 in Warsaw; died 10 Nov. 1974 in Warsaw), engineer, self-taught violin maker, son of Antoni and Wanda. He studied at Warsaw Polytechnic and the School of Trade and Commerce, graduating in 1926 and 1927, respectively. In 1933–39 he was employed at Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii (State Engineering Works), an arms industry holding and the main Polish manufacturer of vehicles, and in 1954–1968 at the Union of Institutes for Professional Excellence. He started learning violin making in 1925 from professional literature and by consulting well-known violin makers: D. Didczenko, T. Panufnik, J. Rymwid-Mickiewicz, and F. K. Pruszak. From 1953 on he worked as professional violin maker, corrector and conservator. He built over 45 instruments, mostly violins and a few violas. He was laureate of the 1st National Violin Making Competition in 1955, and took part in the 1st H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1957), where one of his instruments received Fourth Prize and a medal awarded by the International String Quartet Competition in Liège, while another received an award from the Poznań Philharmonic. He showed a 1962 violin at the 1966 “Polish Musical Instruments” exhibition in Warsaw. He used printed labels, e.g. E. Gosiewski / Warszawa 19(56). A recipient of the Gold Cross of Merit. The Music Instrument Museum in Poznań holds a violin made by Marcin Groblicz (inv. no. MNP Id 2005) labelled Gosiewski Eug. naprawiał Warszawa 1954 [Repaired by Gosiewski Eug. Warsaw 1954].

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Marcin Groblicz (b. c.1674 in Kraków?; d. 21 Jan.[?] 1745 in Lvov; fell ill in 1744), luthier, violinist, turner, decorator, and alchemist of noble descent from Lithuania. Records place him in Poznań between c.1688 and c.1706 (e.g. as a member of an ensemble of the St. Mary Magdalene’s collegiate church); on 3 Apr. 1706 temporarily in Leszno; then in Kraków from c.1712 to c.1722 (where he is mentioned in municipal records in 1715, 1716 and 1722); in Wrocław in 1721; from c.1723 to c.1733 in Warsaw; c.1733–45 in Lviv, as well as Leżajsk and Jarosław. On 6 Sep. 1701 he undertook to teach a son of a Poznań-based bricklayer Kasper Kintzel “the manual skills involved in various liberated arts”, yet sent the youngster home before 1706 as the father’s refused to pay 200 florins in tuition fee. He also taught Jan Wilkowski in Warsaw. On 3 July 1706 G. worked as decorator in Leszno (silver plating). In 1720 in Kraków (?) he accepted a downpayment from a Mr Mieszkowski for a violin commissioned by a duke’s ensemble and made a tobacco pipe shank for a Mr Kołłątaj (also by Mieszkowski’s agency). He made violin cases, walking sticks made of viburnum wood and dyes, offered silver plating services, and delivered tortoises. He built furniture doors covered in lacquerware and chinoiserie adornments labelled M. GROBLICZ POLONUS CRACOVIAE 1721 (also known as a panel painting titled St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Eye of Providence and held by the National Museum in Kraków since 1924), blue altar columns for the Benedictine church in Lviv (7 Sept. 1738), and worked as decorator in Jarosław (22 Apr. 1739), Leżajsk (1739), and Lviv (10 July 1739). He was also actively interested in glassblowing, gun smithery, metallurgy, and medicine. He mixed his own copal varnish. Extant instruments by G. were made in Warsaw in 1710, 1732, 1735 (ca. 1730?) and 1738. The Musical Instrument Museum in Poznań holds a violin made by G. in 1738 (inv. no. MNP-I.487) and one made in Kraków in 1719 (MNP-I.468). Held in private collections are a viola da gamba labelled Ad.M.D.G. W krakowie / Marcin Groblicz 1720 and a sourdine signed MARCIN GROBLICZ / Sługa J.K. Imci. Another sourdine attributed to G. from in the first quarter of the 18^th century is held by the Royal College of Music in London (inv. no. RCM 55). The National Museum in Warsaw possesses a photograph of a violin and a 1922 watercolour drawing (by Bohdan Marconi) of a head and F-holes of an instrument owned by a Mr Moszkowski in Warsaw (?) made by G. in the 17^th century. The Glinka Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow holds two violins by G. from the first half of the 18th century (inv. nos. MИ-1949 and MИ-2036/I). A violin by “a student to Groblicz” is mentioned in an inventory of the Warsaw Augustinian convent of 1752. In 1999 Wojciech Boberski of the Polish Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Art discovered G.’s notebook in the manuscript section of the Wróblewski Library in Vilnius. Kept for around 33 years, it includes more than 180 different kinds of alchemic, chemical, medical, painting, violin making and other recipes devised by G. and others, as well as a chinoiserie drawing, a drawing of a stringed instrument’s rosette, a drawing of a bracing of a stringed instrument or a piece of furniture, and a sketch of an industrial furnace. G. married Katarzyna (b. c.1692; d. after 1752) c.1707 in Wrocław.

Bibliography: Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich, Poznań 1953; W. Kamiński, Groblicz, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, t. efg, red. E. Dziębowska (Kraków 1987), pp. 485–486; A. Krupska, Zapomniane receptury z pierwszej połowy XVIII wieku mistrza różnych sztuk Marcina Groblicza (Warszawa 2010); Polska szkoła lutnicza. Instrumenty Grobliczów i Dankwartów, ed. P. Frankowski, cz. 1 (Poznań 2016), pp. 18–20, and elsewhere; information obtained from Wojciech Boberski and Alicja Knast

Lorenzo Guadagnini I (senior) (b. 22 Dec. 1685 in Cerignale, Piacenza; d. 15 June 1746 in Piacenza) was the oldest of the Guadanini (formerly Guagnini) violin making family. He was considered the most outstanding representative of the Cremona school and a long-standing pupil of Antonio Stradivari, yet the latter claim is now questioned because of a lack of evidence. Also, many instruments with his labels could have been made by other prominent violin makers, such as Carlo and Francesco Mategazza from Milan or Gaspare Lorenzini from Piacenza. His son Giovanni Battista (1711–1786) is now considered as the most outstanding violin maker in the Guadanini family.

Bibliography: C. Beare, Ph.J. Kass, D. Rosengard, Guadagnini, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, ed. L. Libin, vol. 2, (Oxford ²2014), p. 481; W. Kamiński, Guadagnini, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, t. efg, ed. E. Dziębowska, (Kraków 1987), pp. 497–498

Pietro (I) Giovanni Guarneri, also referred to as Pietro [Petrus Guarnerius] of Mantua to distinguish him from his nephew, Pietro (II) of Venice (b. 18 Feb. 1655 in Cremona; d. 26 March 1720 in Mantua), son and pupil of Andrea G. and Anna Maria di Orceli, older brother of Giuseppe G. He moved to Mantua in 1679 (1683?), where he ran his workshop and simultaneously worked as a musician at the duke Ferdinand Carlo Gonzaga’s court. (He was a solo violinist and viol player with the ducal orchestra.) In 1698 he returned to Cremona, and ca.1700 relocated back to Mantua. His instruments are related in style to N. Amati’s and A. Stradivari’s models, yet have individual features, such as very convex plates, wide grooves, deeply carved corners, characteristic f-holes, and a noble chamber sound. They are highly valued, though rare: it is assumed he made only about 50 violins and one cello. There are no violas attributed to him. He did not apply his own labels while working with his father. Later he used printed labels: Revisto e coretto da me Pietro Guarneri / Cremonese in Mantova 16(97); Petrus Guarnerius Cremonensis fecit / Mantua sub tit: Sanctae Teresiae, 16(..). In 1677 he married Caterina Sassagni, with whom he had a son, Andrea Francesco (b. 1678). Subsequently, he married Lucia Guidi Borani (4 May 1694), and had five children, none of whom continued in his trade.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 187; (T. Drescher) 1990, pp. 455–457; W. Kamiński, Guarneri, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, t. efg, ed. E. Dziębowska (Kraków 1987), p. 501; Ch. Beare/C. Chiesa, D. Rosengard, Guarneri, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, 2nd ed., ed. L. Libin, vol. 2, Oxford 2014 p. 485

Kurt Arno Gütter (b. 27 Oct. 1894 in Markneukirchen; d. 6 May 1991 in the same place), son and pupil of guitar maker Heinrich Ludwig, 1909–12 apprentice to Oskar Bernhard Heinel, 1913–14 journeyman employed by Max Schlesinger in Dresden and 1915–21 by Heinrich Thedore Heberlein in Markneukirchen. There he opened his own workshop on 8 Feb. 1921 and became a master craftsman next year. He had a son, Konrad Albert (b. 4 Aug. 1927; d. 22 Nov. 1992), who was his pupil, co-worker, and guitar maker running  his own workshop from 1955. G. built mostly after Italian models. He used printed labels, e.g. Kurt Gütter / Markneukirchen / Made in Germany / Copie: Joseph Guarnerius / GK [intertwined initials].

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 1 (Bruxelles 1951), p. 141; W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart (Tutzing 1990), p. 224

Gustaw Adolf Paweł Häussler (Haussler) (b. 15 Jan. 1850 in Lübben, Brandenburg; died 19 May 1940 in Kraków of pneumonia), wind instrument maker, violin maker, son of Fryderyk August, nephew and pupil of Christian, from whom he took over a workshop and warehouse in Kraków at ul. Floriańska 22  after coming of age in 1871. (He bought the tenement house “Under the Lamb” in 1896.) He made only 12 violins, all after Stradivari, covered with spirit varnish, of which first six, together with his clarinets and flutes, were awarded a bronze medal at the 1877 Kraków Exhibition, while the reminder were awarded a golden medal at the 1894 Lviv Exhibition alongside P. Guarneri and N. Gagliano violins he corrected. Having given up violin making, he rebuilt instruments by Kreutzinger (A. Osmanek?) from Schönbach. He would replace the instruments’ sound post and bass bar, and change the neck’s setting, turning the violins into first-class instruments. Well-known in Europe as a tuner and repairman, he received praise and letters of commendation from P. de Sarasate, S. Barcewicz (for correcting a Guadani violin), M. Karłowicz (for repairing and correcting a Groblicz violin), B. Huberman, J. Pulikowski, O. Švečik, and Lviv musicians led by Jan Gall on 20 Sept. 1884. H. used printed and handwritten labels, e.g. Gustavus Häussler Cracoviensis me fecit / ac Marcello Tyberg Amico suo dedicavit / Anno 18... In 1911 he joined the Association of German Violin Makers (Verband Deutscher Geigenbauer). Professor Lewis Jones from London Metropolitan University possesses H.’s transverse flute, while well-known Kraków-based collector Mikołaj Mazur used to have H.’s zither made of eyelet sycamore, with F-holes, signed Häussler. The Jasna Góra monastery bought his French horns and possibly other instruments in 1875. H. was a member of the Kraków Zither Lovers Society at the turn of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and a court appraiser. Among his apprentices were W. Baczyński, J. Zając, H. Skórczyński, J. Panek and P. Kubas. Antoni Ostafin was his employee from 1898 to 1913. Married in 1887 to Joanna Augusta Matylda née Bluhm (b. 19 March 1855), he had a daughter and three sons: Gustaw Wilhelm Gerhard (b. 10 July 1880), a pastor in Potsdam, and Wilhelm Johannes Gustaw (b. 15 Sept. 1896), a pastor in Upper Silesia. Buried in the family grave in the Rakowicki cemetery in Kraków. The Jagiellonian Library possesses his portrait drawn by Ignacy Wróblewski (ref. no. J.R. 3086). He was also depicted as St. Peter by Adam Ciompa in a stained glass at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church in Kraków.

Bibliography: W. Dziura, Häussler Gustaw Adolf Paweł, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, t. hij, red. E. Dziębowska (Kraków 1993), p. 109; B. Ostafin, Häusslerowie. Dzieje rodziny krakowskich lutników, Krzysztofory 23 (2006),pp. 79–86; B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników… – addenda et corrigenda, Studia Musicologica Stetinensis 2, ed. K. Rottermund (2010), p. 161

Ignatz (Ignatius) Hoffmann senior (I) (b. May 1695 in Wilkanów (Wölfelsdorf), Silesia; d. 29 March 1769 in the same place) was listed as a farmer, maker of viols, violins, lutes and harps. Son and pupil of Friedrich (1647–1714), father of Ignatz junior (1720–1791). He built in the style of the Viennese school, e.g. violins for the Order of the Holy Sepulchre based in Nysa (Neiße) in 1749 and 1750 (they have not survived). The church in Wilkanów once possessed a similar violin with a printed label reading: Ignatz Hoffmann Lautten und / Geigen und Harpfenmacher in / Wulfelsdorff. Anno 1748. Another identical label dated 1740 is known. The Music Instrument Museum in Berlin possesses his viola d’amore from 1735. He probably replaced the belly of a Christoph Böse viol from 1660. The violin KIL-224 attributed to him (maker’s label missing) is the only object in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage’s Collection of Violins that could originate from the County of Kladsko (Grafschaft Glatz), called “Silesian Cremona”.

Bibliography: B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku, (Szczecin 2007), p. 86; P. Preis, Musik- und Theaterleben von Stadt und Kreis Glatz. Ein Rückblick, 1. Stadt Glatz, 2. Kreis Glatz, (Lüdenscheid 1967, 1969); I. Otto, O. Adelmann, Katalog der Streichinstrumente, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin, (Berlin 1975), p. 145

Andrzej Janik, ur. 25 III 1939 Zakopane, zm. 9 IV 2005 Zakopane. Uczył się lutnictwa w tutejszym Państwowym Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych, ukończonym w 1959 r., a następnie, po Studium Pedagogicznym, wykładał w latach 1962-1975 lutnictwo w Technikum Budowy Instrumentów Lutniczych w Nowym Targu. Równolegle praktykował w latach 1962-1965 w pracowni Franciszka Marduły, a w latach 1986-1988 w Chicago (USA). Własną pracownię otworzył w 1963 r. w Nowym Targu, przeniesioną w 1994 r. do Zakopanego. Zbudował ponad 100 skrzypiec, 37 altówek, 2 wiolonczele i 27 gitar klasycznych, a także, sporadycznie, góralskie instrumenty ludowe. Stosował odręczne karteczki lutnicze: Andrzej Janik / Zakopane 2003 r. Uczestniczył w Ogólnopolskim Konkursie Lutniczym im. Z. Szulca w 1979 r. w Poznaniu (III nagroda oraz wyróżnienie z szczególne walory dźwiękowe), w kilku konkursach międzynarodowych, i był finalistą konkursów w Cremonie w 1982 r. w kategorii skrzypiec, w Hradec Králové w 1987 r. – altówka, w Moskwie w 1990 r. – altówka. Jako juror uczestniczył w 2001 r. w Międzynarodowym Konkursie Lutniczym im. H. Wieniawskiego w Poznaniu, a także konkursach krajowych (1987, 2001). Był członkiem ZPAL od 1963 r. Z jego inicjatywy odbywają się cykliczne wystawy lutników podhalańskich.

Bibliografia: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, red. M. Waller, Poznań 2004, s. 90, 93

Tadeusz Jasiurkowski (b. 21 Jan 1952 in Nowy Sącz) studied at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ (1967-1972 ), then worked at the Lower Silesia Stringed Instrument Manufacturers in Lubin, before opening his own atelier there in 1979. He cooperates with French luthiers as violin restoration specialist and makes his own instruments. To date he has produced over 132 violins, 24 violas, and 8 cellos. He was a finalist in many national and international violin making competitions, including in Hradec Králové (1985), Poznań (H. Wieniawski competition: 1991, 1996 – Seventh Prize; W. Kamiński competition: 1999 – Third  Prize in ¾ violin category), Moscow (P. Tchaikovsky: 2002 – Sixth Prize in violin category and Sixth Prize in viola category), Mittenwald, Paris and Cremona. He was a juror of the 2009 Polish National W. Kamiński Violin Making Competition. He applies printed labels reading: Tadeusz Jasiurkowski / Lubin 2004 r.

Bibliography: The Luthier’s Art in Poland 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), pp. 91, 96; http://artystalutnik.pl/ (20.02.2017)

Jaromír Joo (b. 14 Apr. 1952 in České Budějovice), son of Bohumir and Bedřiška. He was educated at a school in Sedloňov and studied the violin in Nové Město nad Metují. He then trained with a violin making cooperative „Cremona” in Luby, Cheb district, and under leading Czech violin makers such as F. Pavlicek (Prague, four years), M. Cardy (Velký Osek, 1978–1979), V. Pilar (Hradec Králové, 1980–1981). He also practiced at ateliers in  Canada, Switzerland and France. He was admitted to the Circle of Czech Master Violin Makers in 1980. Next year his violin was awarded Third Prize and a golden medal for the best quality from the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers at the International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. He won Fifth Prize at the 1982 A. Stradivari competition in Cremona. At the 1985 competition in Hradec Králové his viola was awarded Third Prize and bronze medal for sound (in the national qualifications, the instrument won Second Prize, a golden and bronze medal for execution, and a silver medal for sound);. In 1989 in Hradec Králové he received Sixth Prize and a finalist's diploma. He was a juror at the 2001 International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. He runs his own atelier in Náchod. Until 2006 he also had a workshop in Quesada, Spain, where he still teaches violin making. He is a founder of the International V. Metelka Violin Making Competition held since 1997, first in Náchod and since 2012 in Prague. He applies printed labels: Jaromír Joo Náchod / Faciebat Anno 18(..) [initials JJ in a circle].

Bibliography: V. Pilař, F. Šrámek, Umění houslařů, (Praha 1986), pp. 118, 250; http://www.violinwatch.com/m5821002.html (12.07.2016)

Włodzimierz Kamiński (b. 12 Jan. 1930 in Gniezno; d. 9 Apr. 1993 in Poznań), outstanding musicologist, organologist, theorist of the violin making art, artist luthier and pedagogue. In 1950–1954 he studied musicology at Poznań University. In 1962 he received his doctoral degree based on a study on the evolution of musical instrumentarium in Poland. From 1951 on he was employed at the Musical Instrument Museum, a branch of the National Museum in Poznań, initially as a researcher, and from 1962 on as a custodian and curator. It was thanks to his initiative that Poznań schools started to offer courses in stringed instrument making. (In 1973 the stringed instrument making program was launched at the Secondary School of Music, and in 1978 an artistic violin making department of the then State College of Music admitted first students). In 1990 he qualified as a reader at the Academy of Music in Poznań, specializing in Instrument Studies and Lutherie. A year later he received the title of Professor of Musical Arts. He wrote many scholarly papers, books (including Musical Instruments in Polish Lands, The Polish Violin, and Lutherie in collaboration with Józef Świrek), and articles on musical instruments and violin making. He also gave several dozen papers at courses and conferences devoted to violin making and musicology. He was co-editor of the periodical Lutnictwo (from 1983). Kamiński served as juror of many international violin making competitions, including those in Cremona, Hradec Králové, Sofia and Moscow. From l972 he was chair of the jury of every edition of the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań and of the Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition. He was decorated with many orders, medals and distinctions. His creative output, relatively limited due to his expansive scholarly, didactic and organizational work, comprises around a dozen instruments (violins, a pochette and three violas da gamba). He also carried out correction and conservation work. He was an acknowledged expert in the field of stringed instruments. He was a member of the violin making section of the Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society in Poznań and the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers from 1959, acting as the union’s president from 1964 to 1993.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); D. Jasińska, Kamiński Włodzimierz, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, vol. klł, ed. E. Dziębowska (Kraków 1997), p. 21

Antoni Karolkowski (b. 9 Apr. 1906 in Warsaw; d. 25 Dec. 1983 in the same place), a founding member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers and the union’s secretary from I970 to 1976; son of Antoni and Bronisława neé Gąsiorkiewicz. A self-taught violin maker, at the beginning of his career, he made use of advice from the Warsaw violin maker J. Rymwid-Mickiewicz as well as Feliks K. Pruszak. From 1935 he ran his own luthier’s workshop in Warsaw, after WWII located at ul. Miła 1. At first he offered conservation and adjustment services. He built several dozen violins and a viola. His violins produce a characteristic round sound and are finished with golden-yellow and golden-red spirit varnishes. He took part in the exhibition The Violin in Poland organized in I952 at the National Museum in Poznań and Polish Musical Instrument in Warsaw 1966 (showcasing his violin from 1960). He applied handwritten labels (Antoni Karolkowski / Zrobił w Warszawie / 1952 roku) and printed ones (ANTONI KAROLKOWSKI / WARSZAWA / ROK 19..). He also stamped his name near the endpin: A. KAROLKOWSKI. From 1945 to 1976 he adjusted and maintained instruments for the Academy of Music in Warsaw. Married in 1939, he had a son born in 1956.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Jan Karoń, skrzypek, członek założyciel i Członek Honorowy (1994) ZPAL, członek American Violin Making Society, ur. 6 II 1919 Dłużec k. Olkusza, zm. 13 VIII 2008 Lexington, USA. W wieku 9 lat rozpoczął naukę gry i lutnictwa u swego stryja Wawrzyńca w Niemcach k. Sosnowca. 1936-39 uczeń gry skrzypcowej u Wacława Kochańskiego w Warszawie, po II wojnie światowej u Wacława Niemczyka w Katowicach, od 1947 r. u Józefa Jarzębskiego w Akademii Muzycznej w Warszawie, gdzie w 1952 r. uzyskał dyplom. W 1946 r. był drugim I skrzypkiem Filharmonii Krakowskiej, w 1947 - I skrzypkiem Filharmonii Warszawskiej. Jednocześnie pogłębiał wiedzę lutniczą. Konsultował się m.in. z J. Rymwidem-Mickiewiczem, T. Panufnikiem, J. Świrkiem, P. Kubasem, A. Różyckim, F. K. Pruszakiem. 1952-57 koncertmistrz Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie. W 1957 r. uzyskał stypendium Ministerstwa Kultury i praktykował w 1958 r. w pracowni Etienne Vatelota w Paryżu. Od 1959 r. prowadził własną pracownię w Warszawie i był konserwatorem Filharmonii Narodowej oraz Państwowej Kolekcji Instrumentów Lutniczych. Od XII 1967 przebywał w USA, działając jako muzyk (przez 17 lat 2-gi skrzypek w Houston Symphony Orchestra, od 1984 r. na emeryturze) i lutnik (współpracował z pracownią Gorisha w Houston i prowadził własną do 1995 r.). Jego dom w Houston, zwany „Karoniówką”, był przez lata miejscem spotkań miejscowej Polonii, oraz m.in. posiedzeń Copernicus Society, filii Polskiego Instytutu Naukowego. W 1998 r. przeniósł się do swej córki w Lexington, Kentucky. Wzorował się na modelach Stradivariego, Guarneriego del Gesu. Stosował lakiery olejne w odcieniach złoto-brązowych. Przed nałożeniem werniksu brązowił drewno pod bezpośrednim światłem słonecznym. Stosował kartki pisane: Karoń Jan / Warszawa 1953 Op. (2); Jan Karoń konserwacja Warszawa 1964; i drukowane: Jan Karoń (nepos Laurentu) / Varsaviae Anno 19.. Opus / (Houston, Texas); i stemplował: JK (w rombie poniżej guziczka). Budował smyczki wg modeli Peccatte, Lamy, Voirin i własnego, z wypalanym stemplem: JAN KAROº HOUSTON. Zbudował ponad 30 skrzypiec (na których grał m.in. Henryk Szeryng), 4 altówki, 2 wiolonczele, 40 smyczków. W 1955 r. uzyskał II nagrodę na I Krajowym Konkursie Lutniczym. Autor książki: Poznaj skrzypce, Kraków 1969 (wydanie angielskie w USA 1997 – Know your own violin), a także artykułów w czasopismach amerykańskich: „The Instrumentalist”, „Viol. A Magazine for Stringed Instrument Musician”, „Catgut Acoustical Society Newsletter” . Autor tomiku poezji Wiersze na jednej strunie.

Bibliografia: B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku, Szczecin 2007, s. 97-99. Karoń Jan w: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, t. klł, red. E. Dziębowska, Kraków 1997, s. 42-43; Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, red. M. Waller, Poznań 2004, s. 98

Zbigniew Kegel (b. 2 Feb. 1960 in Poznań) studied lutherie at the M. Karłowicz Secondary Music School in Poznań (1975–1979) and under Andrzej Łapa at the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. He received his master's degree in 1984, having presented a violin and rebec of his own production as well as a thesis on problems connected with constructing bowed instruments in the Middle Ages written under the supervision of Professor W. Kamiński. Since 1982 he has been working as conservator of stringed bowed instruments at the M. Karłowicz Secondary Music School in Poznań. His output comprises over 50 violins, 6 violas, a guitar, a cittern, 2 violas da gamba, a lute and 5 bows. At the A. Stradivari National Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1987 he received a special prize for varnish. He also took part in the second round of the International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1986 and reached the competition's final in 1991. A member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1982.

Norbert Adam Kijanka (b. 11 Aug 1968 in Łódź) studied violin making in the stringed instrument making class at the M. Karłowicz Secondary School of Music in Poznań (1983–1987) and with Professor Włodzimierz Kamiński at the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, from which he graduated in 1992. For his master degree he submitted two violins and a thesis on the life and work of Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù. In 1992 he trained for several months at the workshop of W. & H. Bünnagel in Cologne. Later in 1992 he opened his own workshop in Łódź. He made over 50 violins, five violas, a cittern and two violin bows. He took part in the Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition in 1987 and 1999, finishing as a finalist in the ¾ violin category. He also successfully competed in the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań: in 1991 he won the eight place, a medal awarded by the juror A. Capela, and the prize of the Association of German Violin Makers for the youngest Polish finalist; followed by Second Prize in 2001. He was awarded the gold medal for producing a violin with the best sound quality at the 2nd V. Metelka International Violin Making Competition in Náchod (2004). In 1993 he presented a paper on the output of Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù to the Polish National Seminar on Stringed Instrument Making. In 2011 he was a juror of the H. Wieniawski Competition. A member of Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1988, he also joined the Association of German Violin Makers in 2006.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, red. M. Waller, Poznań 2004

Hiroshi Kikuta (b. 1961 in Nagoya, Japan) initially worked as a mixer of classical music for the Japanese television channel NHK. Fascinated with sound of the violin, he began constructing the instruments after modern Cremona models. In 2001 he enrolled in the International Violin Making School in Cremona, where he subsequently studied under Nicolas Razari and Lorenzo Marchi, graduating with honours in 2004. Thanks to a special scholarship, he continued his studies under N. Razari, working on his own style. In 2009, together with Akira Takahashi, he opened his own atelier in Cremona. He was awarded prizes at the following international violin making competitions: H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań (2006 – First Prize and a medal for the best sound), P. Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (2007 – First Prize), the Triennale competition in Cremona (2009 – seventh place in viola category;2012 – fifth place in viola category), and Violino Arvensis in Dolný Kubín, Slovakia (2013 – bronze medal and a special prize for the best technology applied).

Bibliography: http://www.kansai-violinmakers.jp/members/member_kikuta.html (accessed: 26 Dec. 2016)

Franz Joseph Klier (b. 12 Apr. 1901 in Schönbach; d. 1962? Bubenreuth, Germany), son of Josef; pupil of Josef Schuster in Schönbach-Graz. He became a journeyman in 1921. He then worked in Hamburg: from 1921 to 1923 with Georg Winterling (Schreiber & Lugert) and from 1923 to 1925 under Rudolf Schuster. He opened his own workshop in Schönbach in 1925; worked one year in Kassel in 1928 and passed the master craftsman exam in Markneukirchen in 1929. After WWII, in 1946, he settled in Tennenlohe near Erlangen, then moved to the nearby Bubenreuth in 1951. He became the head of the local guild in 1947. He made violins after classical models.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff (Ergänzungsband, T. Drescher), Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1990), p. 320

Tadeusz Wojciech Kmiecik (b. 27 July 1952 in Cedry Wielkie, Gdańsk). He attended the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ, which he finished in 1972. For the next year he honed his violin making skills in the workshop of Franciszek Marduła in Zakopane, subsequently opening his own violin making workshop in Budy Łańcuckie. (He moved to nearby to Łańcut in 1992). For many years he has been associated as a luthier with the International Music Courses organized during the summer months in Łańcut. Besides carrying out conservation work, he also builds instruments. His creative output comprises over 130 violins, 20 violas, 30 cellos and 50 bows. He has taken part in the international violin making competitions in Cremona, Mittenwald, Moscow, Paris and Poznań. He has displayed his instruments at competition exhibitions and also in Łańcut, Warsaw and Zakopane. He uses handwritten labels: Tadeusz W. KMIECIK / Budy Łańcuckie / ŁAŃCUT A D 2003.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004)

Anatoly Kochergin (b. 10 March 1930 in Moscow) started to work at the Moscow Experimental Instrument Workshop at the age of fourteen. He studied violin making with the Russian master S. Dobrov, and broadened his experience working with Etienne Vatelot in France. In 1957 he became chief musical instrument conservator at the Moscow Conservatory, and since 1976 has headed the unique musical instrument workshop at the State Collection. He is a laureate of numerous domestic and international violin making competitions: in 1966 he came in first at the International P. Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and in 1981 he won Fifth Prize of the H. Wieniawski Competition in Poznań, where he was also awarded a medal by Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers for producing a violin with the best sound quality. Currently, he is a highly valued instrument conservator enjoying recognition at home and abroad, and is often invited to sit on juries of international violin making competitions (e.g. in 2006 in Poznań).

Bibliography: 11th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Maker Competition, Poznań 7-13 May 2006 (Poznań 2006), p. 10

Stanisław Król (b. 13 Sept. 1963 in Zakopane) learned violin making in the stringed instrument making class of the A. Kenar State Secondary School of Art in Zakopane (1978–1983), and subsequently collaborated with Jan Łacek and Władysław Gąsienica “Makowski””. In 1988 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He ran his own workshop in Zakopane. His output comprises over 150 violins, some 15 violas and 15 cellos. In 1985 he took part in the First International Luthiers’ Competition in Hradec Králové (former Czechoslovakia) in the viola category, and has thrice participated in the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań: in 1986 he was awarded a silver plaque from the Italian National Artistic Lutherie Association of Cremona for the youngest Polish competitor; in 1991 he won Third Prize (two violins in the final); and in 2001he received a diploma for participation in the second round.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL)

Adam Jan Królikowski (b. 13 Dec. 1907 in Żywiec, where he died on 18 Aug. 1992), son of Czesław and Rozalia née Pantoflińska. Having completed a secondary school, he worked in his mother’s textile shop. After her death he ran the business himself until WWII, when it was confiscated and Królikowski resettled. A self-taught violin maker, he referred to professional literature and consulted Józef Choleksa and the traditional stringed instrument maker Wiktor Szweda. He built his first instrument at the age of 17 after the J. U. Eberle model, and produced around a few more by 1939. He resumed violin making after 1945. From 1945 to 1954 he worked as electrician, technician and in administration in Żywiec, then was arrested. After his release in 1954 he concentrated solely on violin making, mostly after the Stradivari model. He built over 90 violins, violas, cellos, quartets and historical instruments. He used spirit varnishes and oil-based varnishes combined with etheric oils in golden-orange shades. He also offered conservation and adjustment services. He used printed labels: ADAM JAN KRÓLIKOWSKI ŻYWIEC / WYKONAŁ W ROKU 19… He was a member of the violin makers section of the H. Wieniawski Musical Society in Poznań and of amateurish choirs. At the 1966 Polish Musical Instruments exhibition in Warsaw he showed his violin from 1960. He had a son, Andrzej Michał (b. 15 Sept. 1947 in Żywiec), also a violin maker.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza, (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku, (Szczecin 2007)

Antoni Józef Krupa (b. 17 Feb. 1948 in Zakopane) learned violin making in the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ, which he completed in 1967. From 1969 to 1973 he studied at the wood processing department of the Academy of Agriculture in Poznań. He wrote his MA thesis on transient vibration in factory timber for spruce resonance piano bottoms under the supervision of Professor Helena Harajda. From 1973 to 1978 he worked as a specialist in instrument conservation at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznań. In 1973 he also started teaching the stringed instrument making class at the M. Karłowicz State Secondary School of Music in Poznań. Since 1978 he has worked at the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, successively holding the following posts: 1978 – senior lecturer; 1985 – reader; 1993 – assistant professor; since 1993 – director of the Department of Artistic Lutherie. In 1998 he was awarded the title of Professor of Musical Arts. He has also completed specialist courses organized by the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (l99l, Poznań; 1992, Warsaw). He has made over 250 instruments, including around 210 violins, 27 violas, 11 cellos, a string quartet and three early instruments: a baroque violin, a lira da braccio (copy of an instrument by Giovanni d’Andrea, Verona 1511) and a renaissance lute. He has taken part in two editions of the Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań, winning Second and Fourth prizes in 1979 and First Prize Summa cum Laude for a l/2 violin and viola in 1984. In 1982 he reached the second round of the 3rd A. Stradivari International Violin Making Competition in Cremona. He has participated four times in the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań: in 1977 he reached the second round; in 1996 he was a finalist; 1991 in he placed fourth and won a medal from the Polish Union of Violin Makers for the highest quality of tone. He has displayed his instruments in a number of exhibitions: 1979 – The 25th Anniversary of the Polish Association of Artist Violin Makers in Warsaw; 1983 – The 10th Anniversary of the Teaching of Violin Making in Poznań; 1988 – The Luthiers’ Art in Poland, Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow. He chaired the jury of the 1st W. Kamiński Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1994) and sat on the jury of the 9th H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1996). The principal themes of his papers presented to the Polish national seminars on stringed instrument making have been issues connected with the style of the instruments of A. Stradivari, the use of geometrical methods in the construction of violin models, and the string quartet. Married to Irena (violin maker) he has two sons violin makers: Marcin Andrzej (b. 1977) and Krzysztof Adam (b. 1979).

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004)

Marcin Andrzej Krupa (b. 28 July 1977 in Poznań), son and pupil of Antoni and Irena, both luthiers, studied violin making at the M. Karłowicz State Secondary School of Music in Poznań (1992–1996) and the I.J. Paderewski Music Academy in Poznań under Andrzej Łapa. He graduated after presenting a violin and a bow of his design and construction, as well as a thesis on bow conservation in 2002. He also practiced at the Berlin atelier of bow maker Gregor Walbrodt (2001–2002). He built over 30 instruments, including violins, violas, cellos, a lira da braccio, and a discant viola da gamba, as well as over 100 bows for various instruments. He participated in the W. Kamiński Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań: first in 1994, then in 1999 (First Prize and a honourable mention for a 4/4 violin, Second Prize for a 3/4 violin), and in 2004 (First Prize for a cello, Second Prize for a viola, First and Second Prizes for bows). He also participated in the following international violin making competitions: P. Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (1998 – Second Prize and silver medal for a viola, Fifth Prize for a violin; 2002 – finalist in violin category, honourable mention for high technical quality and the highest technical quality in violin bow category, Third Prize and honourable mention for the highest technical quality in cello bow category); Mittenwald (2001 – Ninth Prize; 2005 – bronze medals for violin and viola bows); H. Wieniawski in Poznań (2001 – Fifth Prize); A. Stradivari in Cremona (2003 – second stage; 2006 – Third Prize and bronze medal in violin category, prize for the best violin sound and the S. F. Sacconi prize); BVMA in London (2004 – honourable mention for high technical quality in violin bow category); Paris (2004 – honourable mention for a viola bow, Fifth Prize for a violin bow); Baltimore (2006 – honourable mentions for violin, viola, and cello bows). Member of the Union of Polish Artist Violin Makers since 1998. He applies printed labels embellished with geometrical and floral ornaments: Marcin Krupa / figlio di Antonio / Poznań anno (2003) [and initials MK].

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), pp. 118, 124; http://www.krupaviolin.com/index2.php?s=marcin2 (accessed 8 Dec. 2016)

Piotr Kubas (b. 21 June 1906 in Węgierka near Pruchnik; d. 28 Dec. 1978 in Kraków) learned violin making in Kraków in the workshop of J. Zając and under G. Häussler. He became a master craftsman in 1930. From 1929 to 1970 he ran his own workshop of instrument adjustment and conservation called „Lutnia” [Lute] at ul. Św. Tomasza 30 (26), moved to ul. Poselska 13 after WWII. From 1950 he also worked as instrument conservation specialist for the Kraków Philharmonic. In total, he built 45 violins and a viola. He produced his first instrument in 1935 and his last six after 1970. He took part in violin making exhibitions and competitions. At The Violin in Poland exhibition in 1952 in Poznań he presented a violin and a viola. In the 3rd H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition (Poznań, 1967) his instrument won Third Prize. Earlier he participated in the same competition as a juror in 1957. In 1975 he was honored for his creative output in the domain of violin making with the Award of the Ministry of Culture and the Arts. A founding member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers, he was active in many of the union’s committees.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007); information provided by Ernest Kubala and Barbara Ostafin from Kraków; Poland’s National Digital Archive possesses photographs of the violin maker and his workshop from 1944, inv. no. 2-6686-1 to 12

Eugeniusz Kukulski (b. 8 Nov. 1888 in Biecz, Lesser Poland; murdered in Katyń in 1940), self-thought violin maker; colonel of the Polish Army; son of Franciszek and Bronisława née Dyląg. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He fought the 1920 war with Soviet Russia holding the rank of captain and serving as the commander of the armored train „Hallerczyk” and commander of the antiaircraft battery during the Warsaw Battle. Later he served in the First, Third and Twelve Heavy Artillery Regiment, than (having been promoted to lieutenant colonel) as deputy commander of the Sixteen Heavy Artillery Regiment in Grudziądz (1927–1928) and commander of the Replenishment District Headquarters in Piotrków from 31 May 1929. Having retired, he settled in Kraków, where he was awarded Second Prize for his violin at a 1936 violin exhibition. Married to Stefania née Sikorski, he had a son Janusz.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007); Rocznik oficerski 1928, Ministerstwo Spraw Wojskowych, Warszawa 1928, p. 390; Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe, Akta Personalne 12882

Albert Lang (b. ca. 1909 in Schönbach) graduated from the violin making school of the „Cremona” Luthier Cooperative at Luby u Chebu (formerly Schönbach) in Czechoslovakia. He was awarded Fourth Prize at the 1957 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań. Later, he worked for the Höfner firm in Hagenau, Bavaria, where he trained violin maker Lothar Semmlinger in the 1960s.

Francesco Lazzaretti (b. 1852; d. c.1900), a representative of the Venetian School, he ran his workshop in Vicenza, the region of Veneto, Italy. He had been trained by the local organ and violin maker Giovanni Baptista De-Lorenzi. He applied handwritten labels reading Lazzaretti Francesco / Fece anno 1899 Vicenza.

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 2 (Bruxelles 1959), p. 33

L. Lemarie, bliżej nieznany lutnik lub dealer notowany w 1903 r. przy rue Ledru-Rolin 5 w / Chateauroux, Francja.

Bibliografia: http://www.martinswanviolins.com/content/soldinstruments.htm (dostęp 11.04.2017)

Robert Wojciech Loska (b. 22 April 1966 in Zabrze) completed the State Secondary School of Music in Gliwice (violin class) in 1985, and two years later took up violin making studies at the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. In 1992 he was awarded his Master of Arts degree in artistic violin making based on a thesis The Violins Produced by Antonio Stradivari in the years 1700-1716 written under the supervision of Professor W. Kamiński. He also presented two instruments: a violin built based on his own model and a baroque one. His output comprises over 80 instruments, including over 60 violins, 12 violas, two cellos and a guitar. In 2001 he won Third Prize at the 10th H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań and the prize for scoring the highest point total for two instruments. He achieved further successes in 2003 at the 10th A. Stradivari International Violin Making Competition in Cremona: fifth place for a violin and ninth place for a viola.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, Poznań 2004

Nicolas Lupot (b. 4 Dec 1758 in Stuttgart; d. 30 Aug. 1824 in Paris) was the most outstanding French violin maker, called “French Stradivari”. His grandfather, Laurent worked from 1738 to 1756 in Lunéville for the court of Stanisław Leszczyński, Duke of Lorraine, and future king of Poland. Nicolas's father, Francois also worked in Lunéville, then – among other places – in Stuttgart and in Orleans, with his son. Nicolas exceed his father in lutherie and moved to Paris in 1794, where he cooperated with Louis Pique. In 1798 he opened his own atelier at 24 rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs. His prime lasted from around 1810 until his death. He mostly made violins, as well as some violas and cellos, inspired most of all by Antonio Stradivari, sometimes copying Guarneri del Gesù. His most outstanding pupils were Charles-Francois Gand senior, who became his heir, and Auguste Sebastien Philippe Bernardel.

Bibliography: R. Wieczorek, Lupot, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, t. klł, ed. E. Dziębowska, (Kraków 1997), pp. 438-439; Ch. Beare, S. Milliot: Lupot Nicolas, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, ed. L. Libin, vol. 3, (Oxford ²2014), p. 322

Wojciech Łukasz (b. 24 Aug. 1962 in Nowy Targ), studied violin making at the M. Karłowicz State Secondary School of Music in Poznań (1992–1996) and the I.J. Paderewski Music Academy in Poznań under Antoni Krupa. Graduated after presenting a baroque viola and chitarrone, as well as a thesis on Decoration in European instruments as a basis for attribution in 1987. Since 1988 he has been a conservator at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw. He built over 79 instruments, including violins, violas, baroque cellos, lutes, guitars, theorbas, chitarrones and bows. His instruments were awarded at two Polish national violin making competitions: the Student Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1983 – First Prize for a 1/2 violin) and the W. Kamiński Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań (1994 – Gio Batta Massini of Cremona’s silver plaque for the instrument bearing most characteristics of the Italian style). He also participated in international competitions: the H. Wieniawski in w Poznań (1991 – Sixth Prize, 1996 – Ninth Prize); the Mittenwald competition (1993 – Fifth Prize in violin category, 1997 – Sixth Prize in viola category); the V. Metelka competition in Náchod (1997 – golden medal for the highest sound quality); and the P. Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (1998 – First Prize in violin category). He was a juror at the 1999 W. Kamiński  violin making competition and the 2001, 2011, and 2016 H. Wieniawski  violin making competition. Member the Union of Polish Artist Violin Makers since 1983. He applies printed labels: Wojciech Łukasz / Warszawa 2003; WOJCIECH ŁUKASZ / Warszawa 1998.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), pp. 137–138;
http://www.wojciechlukasz.com/biografia.html (access: 8 Dec. 2016); http://www.wieniawski.pl/wojciech_lukasz.html (access: 8 Dec. 2016)

Nadia Mantovani (b. 13 Feb. 1960 in Descenazo del Garda, Italy) studied at the International Violin Making School in Cremona under Giorgio Scholari and Gio Batta Morassi (1974–1978), then practiced for two years at the school’s workshop, before opening her own atelier. In 1982 she also started teaching at the Violin Making School in Milan. She specializes in historical instruments, mostly viols. At the 1981 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań she was awarded Second Prize and the special prize of juror Antonio Capela for the best young maker.

Bibliography: W.L. v. Lütgendorff, T. Drescher, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Vol. 3 (Tutzing 1990), p. 387; http://www.wieniawski-competition.com/konkurs-lutniczy/en/vi_l_08a-2/ (access: 27.02.2017)

Lorenzo Marchi (b. 24 Dec. 1950 in Siena, Italy) was interested in music from an early age: he was a guitarist in a local band and began studying classical guitar. Driven by a desire to make his own instrument, he made contact with a violin maker in Florence. Following his advice, Marchi began studying violin making in the International Violinmaking Institute in Cremona in 1974, graduating in 1978 under Gio Batta Morassi’s supervision. Subsequently, he opened his own atelier and started teaching violin making at the Cremona institute. In 1978–1982 he was also an assistant to Walter Leoni while the latter led evening courses of guitar making (which became his specialty), financed by the local administration. He repairs and makes violins, violas, cellos, as well as baroque, transitional and classic guitars, and occasional viola da gambas, lutes, mandolins and hurdy-gurdies. In 1980 he was among the founding members of the Italian Violinmaking Association (ALI), later becoming involved in the work of the professional luthiers’ section as the secretary and president (1999). He is also a member of the European Association of Master Violin and Bow Makers (AEL) and its international equivalent, the Entente. He received awards and honorable mentions in various violin making competitions, among others at the 1986 H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. He still teaches at the violin making institute in Cremona and runs his atelier there.

Bibliography: http://www.cremonaviolins.com/en/violinmaker/lorenzo-marchi-en/ (access: 27.02.2017); http://www.associazioneali.it/en/socien/marchi-lorenzo-40.html# (access: 27.02.2017)

Franciszek ”Gał” Marduła (b. 27 July 1909 in Poronin near Zakopane; d.  29 Nov. 2007 in Zakopane), violin maker and artist carpenter; son of Józef, a carpenter and graduate of the Wood Processing School in Zakopane, and Ludwika née Gutt ”Mostowy”. He first worked at his father’s workshop, designing and building Podhale-style furniture and silver jewelry. Conscripted to serve in Border Protection Corps, he participated in the defense of Lublin, where he was taken prisoner. He was subsequently held in Stalag IV-B Mühlberg and Stalag IV-A Elsterhorst. He taught himself the basics of violin making, then trained under Andrzej Bednarz. He built his first violin in 1928. His creative output comprises around 6500 instruments: violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, and historical instruments such as violas da gamba and violas d’amore. He was also one of a few luthiers in Poland to produce bows. After WWII violin making became the greatest passion of his life. In 1945 he opened his own workshop in Zakopane at ul. Kościeliska 44, which still operates today with his son Stanislaw at the helm. Initially, he built instruments based on the Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu models. After 1956 he used his own models. He applied handwritten labels reading Wykonał / Franciszek Marduła „Gał” / Zakopane / rok 1955 [Made by / Franciszek Marduła ”Gal” / Zakopane / 1955]; Franciszek Marduła / Zakopane 1984 r. From 1952 onwards he combined his creative work with teaching, initially at the School of Art in Zakopane (lutherie program), and from 1959 to 1972, when he retired, at the Technical School of String Instrument Making in Nowy Targ founded on his initiative and thanks to his efforts. An important part of his work involves the conservation of instruments. He has taken part in many violin making competitions, achieving many artistic successes: fifth honorary mention at the 1st National Violin Making Competition Warsaw in 1955; Grand Silver Medal at the International Viola Exhibition in Ascoli Piceno, Italy in 1959; finalist in 1967 and 1972 at the International String Quartet Competition in Liège (he participated in 1960, 1963, 1967 and 1972); Fifth Prize at the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań (he participated in 1957, 1967, 1977 and 1981); seventh place in 1982 in the cello category at the A. Stradivari International Violin Making Competition in Cremona (he participated in 1979, 1982, 1985). In 1979 he served as honorary chair of the 1st  Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań. He presented his work at five individual exhibitions: in 1979 in Frankfurt and Zakopane (BWA), in 1988 at the A. Glinka Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow, in 1995 at the Warsaw Philharmonic, and in 1998 at the exhibition The Passions of Franciszek Marduła at Willa Koliba in Zakopane. He also showcased his instruments at collective exhibitions, including Polish Musical Instruments held in Warsaw in 1957; The Artistic Violin Making of the Podhale Region organized by the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers in Zakopane in 2000, and a joint exhibition of his and his son’s instruments held in Zakopane in 2002 (revived a year later in Ciechanów and Ostrołęka). He willingly passed on his knowledge and experience at Polish national seminars on stringed instrument making. Many Polish and foreign luthiers have received training in his workshop. In 2003 he celebrated 75 years of his creative work. A member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers from 1955, he held many functions in the union’s administration. In 1988 the union awarded him the title of Honorary Fellow for his outstanding artistic achievements, his pedagogic and educational work, and his active community work. He was an avid skier who participated in numerous Polish Skiing Championships and the 1939 World Skiing Championships (FIS). He was also an active gymnast, member of the Sokół Gymnastics Society and its honorary chairman. His another passion was sport shooting. For his social, sporting, organizational and artistic activities he was honored with numerous regional, ministerial and state awards, including the Silver Cross of Merit and the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers Annual Award in 1980. His son Stanisław (b. 29 Feb. 1952) is also a violin maker. Buried in the Pęksowy Brzyzk Cemetery.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers; A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007); F. M. „Gał” (advertising brochure) (Zakopane 1998); T. M. Lisek, Mistrz Franciszek Marduła (Kraków 2007)

Tetsuo Matsuda (b. 21 May 1945 in Hadachi near Akita, Japan) took up violin making relatively late. He was already twenty when he found his way to a guitar workshop in Chai, where he stayed ten years. In 1977 he went to Italy and studied the violin making craft in Cremona for four years, which soon brought him a string of spectacular successes. The first was Fifth Prize at the 1981 International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. In the following year the artist received two silver medals for violin and viola at the International A. Stradivari Competition in Cremona, and in 1984 was awarded two gold medals also for violin and viola at the International Violin Society of America International Violin Making Competition. Since 1983 Tetsuo Matsuda has been living in the United States, where he first worked for W. H. Lee in Chicago, IL. In 1993 he opened his own workshop in Skokie, IL, then moved to Barrington, IL, in 1998. He was a jury member at the 11th International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 2006.

Bibliography: 11th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Maker Competition, Poznań 7-13 May 2006 (Poznań 2006), p. 10

Shinya Mochizuki, currently based in the town of Oyama (Tochigi prefecture on Honshu island), Japan, he previously worked in Tokyo; member of the Japan String Instrument Makers Association; awarded Fourth Prize at the 1986 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań.  He showed his violin at the 2000 Stringed Instrument Fair in Tokyo. He applies calligraphic labels: Shinya Mochizuki / Tokyo Japan / 1986.

Simeone Morassi (b. 13 Mar. 1966 in Cremona), son and student of Giovanni Battista. He was introduced to the world of music and artistic woodworking as a child in his father’s workshop. In 1984 he graduated from the International Violin Making School of Cremona  and the Udine Conservatory of Music as violinist. Morassi entered numerous international violin making competitions, winning First Prize and Gold Medal at the H. Wieniawski in Poznan, Poland in 1996, in Mittenwald, Germany in 1989, Esztergom, Hungary in 2000, and Nachod, the Czech Republic in 2004. In addition, he has received various special prizes for the best varnish, best workmanship, and best sound quality. Simeone Morassi sat on the juries of the following violin making competitions: Poznań in 2004; Helsinki, Finland in 2004; Luby, the Czech Republic in 2005; Queretaro, Mexico in 2005; Dolný Kubín, Slovakia in 2006. He took part in exhibitions held in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Paris, Frankfurt, Helsinki.

Krzysztof Mróz (b. 11 Nov. 1953 in Radków) completed the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ. In 1973 he took up employment at the Lower Silesia Stringed Instrument Factory in Lubin. At the same time he trained under Mieczysław Bielański in Wrocław. His output comprises over 200 violins, around 100 violas and 40 cellos. He has also carried out complicated conservation work on many instruments and bows. In 1979 he took part in the 1st Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań, taking seventh place. Two years later he moved to Wrocław, where he opened his own workshop. He took part in a succession of Polish national competitions, reaching the second round in 1984; placing fifth in 1987; and winning First Prize for a violin in 1994. Since 1981 he has regularly participated in successive editions of the H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań: in 1986 he was awarded a diploma for participation in the second round; in  l991 he reached the finals; in 1996 one of his violins won First Prize and gold medal, another was awarded Third Prize and bronze medal, while he also received a Silver Fan award from Japanese juror Soroku Murata and special prize from Czech juror Tomas Pilař for the best Pole in the competition. He has also entered into numerous European violin making competitions (Cremona, Hradec Krá1ové, Mittenwald, Manchester, Moscow, Paris, Prague), becoming a finalist (violin) in Mittenwald in 1989, taking fifth place (viola) in Prague in 1993, sixth place in (viola) in the P. Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998 and fourth place (viola) in the same competition in 2002. In 1989 he was invited to sit on the jury of the 3rd Z. Szulc Polish National Violin Making Competition in Poznań. He has also delivered a number of papers and lectures on violin making, including to the Polish National Seminar on Stringed Instrument Making in Boleslawów (1998) and the Festival of Science in Wrocław (2000).

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL)

Mieczysław Nowobilski, Polish Fourth Prize winner (equal with Gao Tong Tong from China) at the 1996 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań. There is no information of his activity as luthier from that point on.

Andrzej Pancerz (b. 1973 in Korzenna near Nowy Sącz) studied the cello at the primary school of music in Zakopane and – parallelly – violin making at the A. Kenar Secondary School of Art in Zakopane (1988–1993). After practicing with Adam Stelmach in Limanowa for a year, he began studying lutherie at the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. In the meantime, he practiced in Belgium for one year. At the 2001 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań his violin was awarded a medal of the H. Wieniawski Society for the best sound qualities. Since 2002 he has lived in Biecz, where he makes violins, paints and works as an instructor at the Ceramic Therapy Workshop.

Bibliography: http://www.biecz.pl/asp/pl_start.asp?typ=13&menu=7&dzialy=7&akcja=artykul&artykul=94 (accessed: 16 Jan. 2017)

Vincenzo (Trusiano) Panormo, called the Old Panormo (b. 30 Nov. 1734 (?) in the village of Monreale, near Palermo; d. 19 March 1813 in London), violin and woodwind instrument maker; son of Gaspare Trusiano, a guitar maker known to have worked in Palermo from the 1740s onwards and Anna; brother of woodwind instrument makers Francesco, Rosario Giovanni and Giuseppe. He had great technical skills, and traded in describing various instruments, mostly violins, cellos, double basses and oboes already from the age 16. He was probably shortly trained by Bergonzi in Cremona. After 1754, certainly before 1767, the Trusiano family left Sicily and moved to Naples, where Vincenzo cooperated with the Gagliano violin makers family. There, Vincenzo and his siblings started using the name Panormo (from “Panormus” meaning Palermo in Latin) first alongside, then instead of Trusiano; the new name was used also by their children. In 1772 Vincenzo went to England for the first time, yet before 1773 he moved to Marseille, and later to Paris. In 1789, escaping the revolution, he moved with his sons to Dublin, where he cooperated with Thomas Perry and made beautiful instruments from maple billiard tables. He settled in London after 1791. From 1797 to 1798 he retuned to Ireland and cooperated with the violin maker Richard Tobin in Cork. His violins, cellos, double basses, as well as guitars gained wide recognition for their clear Italian sound, and were highly appreciated by instrument teachers. He mostly copied Stradivari and Amati models. He is recognized also for his introduction of elements of Italian violin making to the English craft. The Palermo Musical Conservatory possesses a double bass with the inscription Vincenzo Trusiano / fecit Panormi / 1752 made by the luthier at the age of 10. Also extant are oboes signed: Vinc / Panormo. His printed labels from the Paris period were often copied by other makers. In London he used handwritten labels: vincenzo Panormo italiano / fecit in londini Anno 1774. Many of his instruments circulate without labels, and some only with the name burnt at the top of the back or on the lower lining. He had violin making sons: Joseph (b. 1767; d.1837), George (b. 1776; d. 1852), Louis (b. 1784; d. 1862), as well as grandsons: Eduard Ferdinand (b. 1812; d.1891) and George Louis (b. 1814, d.1877).

Bibliography: G. P. di Stefano, Documentary Evidence Concerning the Early History of Vincenzo Trusiano and the Panormo Family of Instrument Makers in Italy, Journal of the  Violin Society of America, VSA Papers (Fall 2014), Vol. XXIV, No. 2. pp. 51–61; W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff (T. Drescher), Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1990), pp. 455-457; Ch. Beare, J. Dilworth, Ph. J. Kass, Panormo, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, ed. L. Libin, vol. 4, (Oxford ²2014), p. 17

Ji Hwan Park (b. 19 Nov. 1982 in Daejeon, South Korea), studied violin making at the International Violin Making School (IPIAL) in Cremona under the guidance of Massimo Negroni (2005–2010). After graduation he studied one more year under Michele Drobner. Currently, he is running his own atelier in Cremona. He was awarded a bronze medal for viola at the 2010 Pisogne Italian National Competition, a silver medal for violin and best sound at the same competition in 2011, sixth prize for violin at the 5^th Arvensis competition in Slovakia (2013), honorable mention for violin at the 14^th Cremona Triennial Competition (2015), and first and second prizes for violins at the  2016 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań.

Jan Pawlikowski (b. 2 Jan. 1943 in Maruszyn near Nowy Targ) studied violin making at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ (1959–1964), and the violin at a secondary school of music (1964–1069). Next, he studied the viola at the Kraków Academy of Music, yet dropped out in 1970. In 1965–1966, thanks to a Ministry of Culture scholarship, he practiced restoration at Piotr Kubas’s violin making workshop in Kraków and at the Music Instrument Museum in Poznań. Soon afterwards, in 1967, he opened his own workshop in a building belonging to the Academy of Music in Kraków. In 1972–1973 he worked for Robert Kagan’s firm in Chicago. After coming back to Poland, he opened a workshop in Kraków and simultaneously took over as the instrument maintenance specialist for the Kraków Philharmonic after the late P. Kubas. He was awarded First prize for a cello at the Z. Szulc Luthier’s Competition in Poznań in 1979, a special prize of the magazine Hudebni Nastroje for two violins at the same competition in 1981. He also reached the final of the 1982 A. Stradivari Competition in Cremona and received a bronze medal for a violin at the 1983 Luthier’s Competition in Sofia. He was a juror at many violin making competitions, including in Moscow, Hradec Kralowe, Prague and Poznań. He applies printed labels with the inscription: Jan Pawlikowski / (zbudował) / KRAKÓW‧ANNO DOMINI 20(..) [signature] flanked by the images of St. Mary’s Basilica in Kraków and the highlander fiddle (złóbcoki). He runs the workshop together with his daughter Janina, also a violin maker.

Bibliography: The luthier’s Art in Poland 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), p. 163; http://pawlikowscy.com.pl/[17 Oct. 2016]

Georg Piegendorfer (b. 9 Feb. 1849 in Ergoldsbach; d. 26 July 1906 in Augsburg), one of the best Bavarian violin makers. He played music and learnt artistic carpentry from an early age. He worked as a journeyman in various places. In 1866, when the Prussian-Austrian war broke out, he voluntarily joined the Bavarian infantry and served as a signaler in the rifle company. After peace was established, he stayed in the army as a musician in a military band. Demobilized in 1869, he enlisted again and stayed as an oboist until 1871. Later he shortly worked as a carpenter but soon became a French horn player in a theater orchestra, with which he toured Germany and Austria. In 1874 he repaired his colleague’s violin so well that the latter encouraged him to take up violin making and got him the well-known Adoph Welltengel book to learn from. Keen to proceed in the profession, P. studied other violin making books and worked as a volunteer at the Christian Edler workshop in Frankfurt throughout 1875. The following year he made the first violin of his own design. Having made fast progress, he became the conservator with the Municipal Orchestra of Augsburg in 1879. He get married and opened his own workshop in 1880. Having gained recognition in the new trade, he could afford to give up his career in music. He soon took over A. Scherlein’s well-known store of string music instruments and started to make violins on a larger scale, to that end employing two journeyman. He built instruments patterned after Stradivari and Guarneri models, using good old wood and good yellow varnish. He applied printed labels: Gg. Piegendorfer / fec. in Augsburg (1898). He also authored the book Die schwäbischen Geigenbauer vom Jahre 1600 bis auf unsere Zeit, Leipzig 1895.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922). p. 384

Tomáš Pilař (b. 22 Feb. 1954 in Hradec Králové) comes from a multigenerational violin making family: he is a son and pupil of Vladimír (b. 1926) and Eva, née Niesnerov. He was also trained by his grandfather Karl (b. 1899; d. 1985), under whose guidance he begun restoring and repairing instruments. He has been playing the violin and cello since his childhood. In 1973 he joined military service and worked as violin maker in Prague. In 175, having completed the service, he returned to Hradec Králové and has been working in the family workshop henceforth. He also practiced making bows at R. Herbert Leicht’s workshop in Hohendorf near Makneukrichen (1977) and at C. Hans Karl Schmidt's workshop in Dresden (1981). Soon he gained recognition as a bow maker and restorer. He made violins after Stradivari’s 1718 model and a Guarneri model. His instruments were awarded many prizes at international and national violin making competitions, including those in Cremona (silver medal, 1976), Poznań (Golden Groblicz Award for the greatest individuality, 1977), the USA (Fifth Prize, 1980), and Hradec Králové (three golden medals for a viola and the instrument with the best tone, 1985). In 1977 he was awarded the title of “Exemplary worker of culture” by the Czech minister of culture. He was a juror at the 1996 International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań. He has a daughter, Šárka, who independently makes violins in the family workshop.

Bibliography: V. Pilař, F. Šrámek, Umění houslařů (Praha 1986), pp. 75, 78–79, 149

Vladimír Pilař (b. 20 April 1926 in Hradec Králové), son and pupil of violin maker Karl P. (1899–1985) and Vlasta née Schöblova, member of a multigenerational family of luthiers from Staré Paky. He studied the violin under Professor Karl Hřsel and the flute under Professor Zdeňek Stoklasa, playing in amateur symphony and opera orchestras and chamber ensembles in his free time. From 1941 to 1945 he studied violin making with his father, then worked for him until 1958. Next year he became a member of the Polish Union of  Artist Violin Makers, and has been active in its management since 1970. He is also a member of the union’s German counterpart (Verband der deutschen Geigenbauer) and of an expert committee of the National Gallery in Prague. He built first instruments after his father’s models, and later mostly after Italian masters (A. Stradivari’s “Campo Selice” from 1710, and Guarneri del Gesù’s instrument from 1718). His instruments were awarded at the International Quartets Competition in Liège in 1957, 1960 and 1963; the 1962 International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań, where he took First Prize. Highly appreciated around the world, he sat on juries of a range of international competitions and co-authored a study on Czech violin making, Umění houslařů. He worked at the family atelier in Hradec Králové together with his son and grand-daughter. Married in 1950 to Eva Niesnerov, he had two sons, Petr (b. 1951) and Tomáš (see entry); in 1975 he married his second wife, Emilia Čihulkova.

Bibliography: V. Pilař, F. Šrámek, Umění houslařů, (Praha 1986), pp. 149–151

Jerzy Piórko (b. 25 March 1955 in Kocudza, Lublin province) learned lutherie at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ (1969–1974). Subsequently he took up work in the Lower Silesia Stringed Instrument Factory in Lubin, where he was employed until l982 when he opened his own workshop in Lubin. He trained as a violin maker in the workshop of Joseph Kun in Ottawa for nine months at the turn of 1989 and 1990, and for four months in l992. His creative output comprises over 270 instruments: 200 violins, 50 violas and 20 cellos. He has taken part in national and international violin making competitions, including the 1984 Z. Szulc competition in Poznań (Fourth Prize and two honorable mentions); the 1985 competition in Hradec Králové (finalist – fifth place in the viola category, honorable mention for achieving outstanding tonal qualities); the 1986 H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań (Third Prize and a special prize, the crystal cup, from the Czechoslovakian periodical Hudebni Nástroje for having two instruments reach the final); the 1987 competition in Sofia-Kazanluk (finalist – sixth place in the violin category); the A. Stradivari competition in Poznań (Third Prize); the 1991 H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań (First Prize and a special prize, the silver plaque, for the most beautiful varnish, funded by the Association of Italian Luthiers, ALI); the 1994 Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (finalist – eleventh place in the violin category). A member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1980, since 1991 he has been a member of the Committee of Eligibility.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL)

E.M. Pöllmann is a workshop based in Mittenwald specializing in double basses opened by Alexander Hermann Pöllmann (b. 7 Apr. 1864 in Adorf, Saxony; d. 28 Apr. 1937 in Dresden), maker of cellos and double basses. He founded his workshop in 1888 in Siebenbrunn near Markneukirchen, then moved to Dresden. He was succeeded by his son and pupil Erich Max (b. 5 Apr. 1897 in Siebenbrunn, d. 1963 Markneukirchen), who worked in Leipzig, Dresden, and finally in Markneukirchen, where he became master craftsman in 1940. He taught the trade to his nephew Günther Krahmer-Pöllmann, who nevertheless could not bear the political situation in East Germany and moved to Mittenwald in West Germany. With Erich Max’s approval, Günther founded a successor corporation to E. M. Pöllmann’s firm, which is now ran by his sons, Ralph and Michael Krahmer. The firm makes over a dozen internationally valued types of double basses for orchestras and solo players, namely: Guarneri, Rivolta, Rossi, Busetto, Alexandria, Gamba, Maggini, Venezia, Ceruti, Cremona, Salzburg, Imperator, Pareschi, Madrid, Verona, and Amore, as well as copies of old master instruments. It was awarded a silver medal and a prize for the best sound at the 2012 Bass Maker Competition in Copenhagen.

Bibliography: R. Vannes, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 1 (Bruxelles 1951), p. 283; http://www.poellmann-contrabass.de/indexframe.htm (2016.10.12)

Josef Pötzl (b. 3 Oct. 1908 in Schönbach, renamed Luby in 1945, Cheb district; d. 1998), son and pupil of violin maker František (b. 1874; d. 1915) and Maria, née Fischer; excellent violin maker, musician and painter. He also studied under Gustav Dietl in Schönbach (1922–1925), a local art school (for eight years) and the local State Violin Making School (1925–1926). After becoming a journeyman in 1925, he worked for a year for Dietl and until 1928 for Otto Schuster. Having completed military service (1928–1930), he opened his own workshop in Nýrsko, in the Bohemian Forest (Šumava), which he then moved to Hranice in Moravia (1935–1945). After the war  he returned to Schönbach and worked as an instructor, was the headmaster of the local violin making school, and ran his own workshop from 1950. He used Stradivari and Guarneri models but mostly his own designs, making instruments with big, powerful sound. He also worked as renovator and corrector. His instruments won prizes at the violin making competitions in Prague (second prize, 1954), Poznań (third prize, 1957), Ascoli Piceno (silver medal), and Liège (special prize for sound, 1960). In 1981 he was presented with a state award for artistic achievements. Violin making traditions are continued by his son Jan (b. 1946) and grandson David (b. 1975).

Bibliography: V. Pilař, F. Šrámek, Umění houslařů (Praha 1986) pp. 77, 81, 153

Feliks Konstanty Pruszak (b. 3 Nov. 1883 in Butejki, Volhynia; d. 26 Jan. 196l in Płudy near Warsaw), one of the best Polish violin makers; son of Konstanty (b. 1856; d. 1940), a civil servant of noble origin (Leliwa coat of arms) and Józefa Jadwiga, née Śliwińska (b. 1861; d. 1927). In 1898 he completed a primary school in Warsaw and began learning violin making in Markneukirchen under the well-known master Ludwig Dörffel. In 1902 he passed his journeyman’s examination there. From 1902 to 1908 he resided in Budapest (?), where he took part in violin making workshops. In 1908 he settled in Warsaw and opened his own workshop at ul. Nowy Świat 62. Soon he became a highly regarded conservator and leading expert in stringed instruments. He also built new instruments. In 1939 most of his workshop and collection of historical instruments were destroyed. After 1945 he worked in the Ton Cooperative of Musical Instruments in Warsaw. In 1952 he took part in the exhibition The Violin in Poland organized at the National Museum in Poznań. He was chair of the jury of the 1st National Violin Making Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and honorary chair of the jury of the 1st International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1957. He was a master craftsman and the guild head (after 1936?); later a founding member and the first president of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers, a post he held until his death.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Michał Różak (b. 24 Nov. 1969 in Zakopane) attended the stringed instrument making class of the A. Kenar State Secondary School of Art in Zakopane from 1984 to 1989, subsequently completing a violin making program at the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. He was awarded his Master of Arts degree after presenting two violins and a thesis on Franciszek Marduła's life and work. He produces both bowed and plucked string instruments (violins and violas as well as guitars and lutes). He has taken part in the following violin making  competitions: the 1999 W. Kamiński Polish National Competition in Poznań (First Prize in the 3/4 violin category); the 1996 and 2001 International H. Wieniawski Competition in Poznań (diploma for participation in the second round); the 2001 International Competition in Mittenwald (diploma for participation in the second round); the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (tenth place in the viola category). A member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1998.

Alessandro Scandroglio (b. 27 Apr. 1979 in Castellanza, Italy) studied the violin at the Luigi Majno secondary school under Simona Gilardi from 1987 to 2000, then at the G. Puccini Istituto Musicale Pareggiato in Gallarate under Ruggero Marchesi, taking up the viola as well. Meanwhile, he obtained a diploma at the School of Arts in Varese, where he first became interested in wood carving. From 1997 to 2000 he studied violin making at the Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria in Parma under Renato Scrollavezza and varnishing under Marco Imer Piccinotti. After obtaining the diploma, he became an independent violin maker and opened his own workshop in Casorate Sempione. In the same year he started his apprenticeship with M. I. Piccinotti, later becoming his collaborator. Under Mr Piccinotti's guidance Alessandro Scandroglio started to search for a personal style and ideal sound. Now he is able to obtain the desired tonal effect, while his instruments are appreciated by musicians all over the world and soloists from important Italian orchestras. They were awarded Third Prize at the 2006 International Violin Making Competition in Poznań, as well as prizes for the youngest laureate and the youngest participant.

Renato Scrovalezza (b. 14 April 1927 in Castelnuovo Fogliani, Piacenza), initially self-taught (he built his first violin at 16), he enrolled in the Violin Making School in Cremona in 1951. After graduation, he opened his own workshop in Parma in 1955. He is a doyen of 20th-century Italian violin making. He taught lutherie in the A. Boito Conservatory in Parma and the Violin Making School in Milano from 1975 to 1983. In 1980 he stopped making instruments and started studying lutherie from an academic perspective. He was the curator of the Guarneri’s „Cannone” violin, formerly belonging to N. Paganini, in Genoa in 1988–2000. He is credited with making 220 violins, 60 violas, 39 cellos, 3 double basses, 2 violas d’amore, a viella, a viola da gamba, a pochette and a hundred or so classical guitars. He was awarded prizes at the violin making competitions in Rome (1956), Ancona (1957 & 1958), Pegli (1960), Ascoli Piceno (1959), Poznań (1962 & 1967; served as a juror in 1972 & 1977), Liège (1963 & 1966), and Cremona (1963 & 1965). He also received many honorary and commemorative awards. His daughter and pupil Elisa (b. 1967) took over his atelier.

Bibliography: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff (T. Drescher), Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1990), p. 550

Bogdan Sikora, ur. 10 VII 1976 Jabłonka. Uczył się lutnictwa w zakopiańskim Państwowym Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych im A. Kenara w l. 1992-1996 i jednocześnie gry na skrzypcach i akordeonie w Państwowej Szkole Muzycznej I st. im. M. Karłowicza w Zakopanem, a potem w Państwowej Szkole Muzycznej II st. im. F. Chopina w Nowym Targu. Następnie ukończył w 2002 r. studia w klasie lutniczej Andrzej Krupy w Akademii Muzycznej im. I. J. Paderewskiego w Poznaniu. Uzyskał tytuł magistra na podstawie zbudowanych przez siebie skrzypiec, konserwacji lakieru na skrzypcach oraz pracy pisemnej Zagadnienia związane z retuszem i konserwacją lakieru w instrumentach lutniczych. Od 2002 r. prowadzi własną pracownię w Poznaniu. Zbudował ponad 14 instrumentów, w tym 11 skrzypiec, 2 altówki i gitarę. Uczestniczył w ogólnopolskich konkursach lutniczych w Poznaniu w 1999 r. uzyskując VII miejsce i wyróżnienie w kategorii skrzypiec 4/4, w 2004 r. uzyskując III i IV miejsce oraz dyplom uznania za najwyższe walory dźwiękowe w kategorii altówek, w 2009 r. – nagroda specjalna za najwyżej ocenione walory dźwiękowe skrzypiec (własnego modelu), w 2014 r. – nagroda specjalna za najwyższe walory dźwiękowe w kategorii skrzypiec 4/4 i wyróżnienie za skrzypce własnego modelu (asymetryczny – nazwany secesio); w międzynarodowych konkursach w 2001 r. – im. H. Wieniawskiego w Poznaniu – w 2001 r. (II etap i VII miejsce pod względem jakości dźwięku), im. P. Czajkowskiego w Moskwie w 2002 r. – VIII miejsce i wyróżnienie w kategorii altówek, w Paryżu w 2004 r. (II etap), w 2006 r. w Cremonie (II etap), w 2006 r. w Poznaniu (II etap), w 2007 r. w Dolnym Kubinie (I miejsce pod  względem  dźwiękowym  w  kategorii  skrzypiec, II miejsce w ogólnej punktacji), w 2014 r. w Mittenwaldzie (II etap), w 2015 r. w Dolnym Kubinie (I miejsce i złoty medal w kategorii skrzypiec). Był też stypendystą Ministra Kultury i Sztuki w 2011 r. Członek ZPAL od 2002 r.

Bibliografia: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, red. M. Waller, Poznań 2004, s. 180, 182; http://www.skrzypce.com/(dostęp 2017-04-10)

Tadeusz Słodyczka (b. 5 May 1954 in Dukla) was raised in a highland family living on Mount Gubałówka, in Zakopane. He learned violin making at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ, which he finished in 1974. In the same year he took up work at the Lower Silesia Stringed Instrument Factory in Lubin. He simultaneously pursued his artistic learning, building first classical guitars, and later bowed string instruments. In 1984 he started working independently. He spent his holiday time gaining further experience as a violin maker under Franciszek Marduła in Zakopane. He also trained for a few months in other workshops: with Volker Blay in Dortmund (1987, 1988), Joseph Kun in Ottawa (1989–1990, l992); Gio Batta Morassi in Cremona (1998 and 1999, as well as special courses organized by the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers – Poznań, 1991; Warsaw, 1992). He ran his own workshop in Lubin. His creative output to date comprises over 200 instruments: around 150 violins, 44 violas, 6 cellos, a viola d’amore and 2 bows. His instruments have repeatedly won prizes at Polish national violin making competitions, including the Z. Szulc competition in Poznań (1984), the A. Stradivari competition in Poznań (1987), and the W. Kamiński competition in Poznań (1994, 2004). He may also boast successes at international competitions such as the H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań (1986, 1991), the competitions in Sofia-Kazanluk (1987), Hradec Králové (1988), Mittenwald (1988, 1993), Paris (1991), and Prague (1993), the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (1994, 1998, 2002), the A. Stradivari competition in Cremona (1994, 2000), the V. Metelka Luthiers’ Festival in  Náchod (1997, 2012), and the B. Warchal competition in Dolný Kubín (2013). He has presented his instruments at 18 post-competition exhibitions, the International Instrument Fair in Frankfurt (1980), in Carlisle, USA (1992), and at The Polish Art of Lutherie exhibition in Warsaw (1995). He was many times a juror at Polish national violin making competitions (e.g. the W. Kamiński competition in Poznań), as well as international events (V. Metelka competition in Náchod, H. Wieniawski competition in Poznań, A. Stradivari competition in Cremona and B. Warchal competition in Dolný Kubín). He shared his experiences and observations from professional sojourns abroad with Polish violin makers at national seminars on stringed instrument making, and gave papers on contemporary violin making in the United States, Canada and Italy. He has been an indefatigable propagator of the art of violin making: he initiated a popular series of meetings on The Secrets of Violin Making and still gives talks on violin making for the inhabitants of Lubin. That is also where he organized a concert marking the 25^th anniversary of his creative work in 1999. A member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers since 1978, he has actively participated on its governing bodies and committees.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza, (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004)

Přemysl Otakar Špidlen (b. 18 June 1920 in Prague; d. 6 Jan. 2010 in the same place), representative of the third generation of an excellent violin making family: son and pupil of Otakar František (b. 1896; d. 1958) and Maria, née Blovské; grandson of František (b. 1867; d.1916). As an avid skier he was a member of Czechoslovakia's national team in his young years (1946–1948). He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory and violin making under his father. He quickly achieved renown as a violin maker, corrector and restorer. Already in 1947 he obtained the highest position among his nationals at the International Violin Making Competition in The Hague. He was awarded golden medals at the International Quartet Competition in Liège in 1960 and 1963, First and Third Prize at the International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1962, and Second Prize (First Prize was not awarded) in 1967. He has been a member of the Czech Union of Artist Violin Makers since in founding in 1958, the German Verband der deutschen Geigenbauer, as well as the international Entente internationale des maitres luthiers et aqrchetiers d’art. His son Jan Baptista (b. 1967) and grandson are also violin makers.

Bibliography: V. Pilař, F. Šrámek, Umění houslařů, (Praha 1986) pp. 167–168, 348

Honorata Stalmierska (b. 12 Dec. 1960 in Stargard Szczeciński, Poland) completed a violin making class at the M. Karłowicz State Secondary School of Music in Poznań in 1979 and luthier studies under Andrzej Łapa at the city's I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in 1984 (presenting a violin made by herself and a thesis on the classification and typology of f-holes, written under the supervision of W. Kamiński). In 1984 she became a teacher at her secondary  school and a professor at her alma mater. She received her Ph.D. in 1993 and a postdoctoral degree in 1998. She made over a hundred instruments, including violins, violas, a pochette, a viola d’amore, a viola da gamba, a classic and a historic guitar. She participated in: the H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2002, a similar competition in Sofia in 1983 (winning a prize for the youngest participant), and the 1998 P. Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (Ninth Prize in the viola category). She presented and wrote many papers on lutherie and is a coauthor of the book Polska szkoła lutnicza. Instrumenty Grobliczów i Dankwartów [Polish School of Violin Making: Instruments by the Groblicz and Dankwart Masters], part 1, ed. P. Frankowski, (Poznań 2016). She applies handwritten calligraphic labels reading: Honorata Stalmierska / Poznań 2002.  Member of the Union of Polish Artist Violin Makers since 1983.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), p. 190

Barbara Świrek (b. 4 Dec. 1947 in Katowice), a mining engineer by trade, she learned violin making under the guidance of her father-in-law Józef Świrek from l974–to 1978. Since 1980, together with her husband Rajmund Świrek, she has run a violin making workshop in Katowice. In the years 1983–1985 she worked as conservator of stringed instruments in state primary and secondary schools of music in Katowice. She builds violins, violas and cellos. In 1997 she took part in the 8th A. Stradivari International Violin Making Competition in Cremona. She has given two papers to Polish national seminars: on stringed instrument making in Hungary and on the principles behind the care and conservation of stringed instruments.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004)

Józef Świrek (b. 5 Feb. 1899 in Poradów near Miechów; d. 24 Oct. 1978 in Katowice), having completed a secondary school in Kraków and military service, he studied the violin at the Kraków Music Institute. He had been interested in lutherie since his childhood. As an autodidact he presented his violin at the 1936 Violin Exhibition in Kraków and was ranked tenth overall and first among amateurs, winning an apprenticeship with Albert Caress and Emil François in Paris in 1937/8. He spent World War II at his home village of Poradów. On 27 July 1945 he passed the guild master exam and opened his own atelier in Katowice at ul. Batorego 3. He was also a maintainer of the Silesian Philharmonic and the Academy of Music (1953–76). He made violins after Cremona models with visible influences of the French school, applying handwritten labels: Józef Świrek / Poradów, 1943 r.; Józef Świrek / Katowice, 1949 r.  His instruments were presented at the exhibitions in Poznań in 1949 (two of his violins took first places) and in 1952 (exhibition “Violins in Poland”; presented a violin and a quartet after Stradivari’s Greffulhe; the violin was bought as a prize for the best Polish violinist at the H. Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań, Wanda Wiłkomirska), the 1957 H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań (honourable mention; from 1962 on he served as a juror at all subsequent competitions until his death), the International Quartet Competition in Liège in 1954, 1960, 1972 (silver medal), the 1966 Warsaw exhibition "Polish Musical Instruments" (presented his violin from 1943). Together with. W. Kamiński they wrote: Lutnictwo. Wstęp do sztuki lutniczej (Lutherie. An introduction to the art of violin making), Kraków 1972. He was a founding member of the Union of Polish Artist Violin Makers (1954) and its vice-chairman. Married to Łucja née Kolska (30 Apr. 1944), he had a son and pupil Rajmund (b. 1945) and a daughter and pupil Aleksandra Mańka (b. 1950). The Music Instrument Museum in Poznań possesses his violin from 1937 (Katowice-Kraków), inv. no. MNP-I.864.

Bibliography: W.L. v. Lütgendorff (T. Drescher), Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1990), p. 602; Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), pp 198, 200; B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku, (Szczecin 2007), p. 224

Carlo Antonio Testore (b. c.1687;  d. c.1765) was the older son and pupil of Carl Giuseppe T. He worked in Milan, initially with his father, later independently from his “Sign of the Eagle” workshop on Contrada Larga. His instruments are less carefully finished than his father’s works, made of good tonewood, with golden-yellow varnish, patterned after N. Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari models. All the same, they have qualities of the works of G. Grancino, his father’s teacher. He applied printed labels: Carlo Antonio Testore figlio maggiore /  del fù Carlo Giuseppe in Contrada lar / ga al segno dell’Aquila Milano 17(40); Carlo Antonio Testore figlio maggiore /  del fù Carlo Giuseppe in Contrada lar / ga al segno dell’Aquila Milano 17(41). He also burned his brand (a double-headed eagle under a crown / C.A.T.) in a circle on the back inside. At the end of his life he worked with his son Giovanni.

Bibliography: W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart, (Frankfurt am Main 1922), p. 508

Antoni Trzaska, lutnik notowany w Warszawie w 1810 r. Jego skrzypce modelu starowłoskiego, z kartką Antonius Trzaska / Fecit a Varsoviæ 1810, posiada w swoich zbiorach Kolekcja Instrumentów Lutniczych MKiDN.

Józef Tusk (b. 23 Mar. 1907 in Gdańsk; d. 26 June 1987), son of Józef and Augustyna, née Adamczyk. He finished a primary school in Gdańsk in 1921; received a seaman's book in 1923, and took evening classes in art painting in 1924–1925 while being employed with the Polish Post Office. In 1926–1939 and 1945–1948 he was employed with the Polish State Railways, among others as a telegraphist. Arrested by the Gestapo on 1 Sept. 1939, he was a forced laborer from 1 Sept. 1939 (19 March 1940?) to 26 Aug. 1942 in concentration camps in Stutthof and Neuengamme. On 2 Aug. 1944 he was forcefully enlisted in the Wehrmacht; on 24 Nov. he escaped and joined the Polish Armed Forces. He returned home on 15 Oct. 1945. A self-taught violin maker, he built his first violins in 1924, and from 1934 extended his knowledge in the workshop of Emil Neumann in Gdańsk, making a violin after a Steiner model. He made his next violin in a concentration camp. In 1949 he opened his own workshop in Gdańsk as a corrector, conservator and maker of new instruments. His creative output comprises 150 violins (commissioned, among others, by K. Kulka), 10 violas, cellos and around 12 classical guitars (commissioned, among others, by M. Rodowicz, Cz Niemen and S. Krajewski). He was a prize-winner of the 1st Polish National Violin Making Competition in 1955. At the 1966 exhibition Polish Musical Instruments in Warsaw he presented his violin from 1965. He used handwritten labels: Józef Tusk / Sopot / Anno 1955. As an activist of Polish organizations in Gdańsk before Word War Two, he was awarded two Polish state honors after the war: the Victory and Freedom Medal in 1946 and the Meritorious Service to Culture Medal in 1979. Married to Julianna, he had five children: Jan, Donald Franciszek (b. 1930), Eleonora Maria Gurkowska (b. 1932), Ewa Maria (b. 1934), Bronisław (b. 1935) and  Rajmund Leon (b. 1936).

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL);  Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza, (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Igor W. Ulitsky (b. 1961 Moldova), completed a technical school (1979) and a music school in Tiraspol (1986). In 1996 he graduated from the music conservatory in Kishinev, where he also had been learning violin making in Herman Kastrubin’s atelier since 1982. From 1986 to 1996 he was an employee and manager of the conservatory's bowed instruments maintenance workshop. In 1988 he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the USSR. In 1995 he practiced violin making at the Gio Batta Morassi studio in Cremona. The following year he started his own workshop in Moscow, making new instruments (violins, viols and cellos). He is an expert in bowed instruments and conservator with the State Collection of Unique Music Instruments of Russia. His violins were awarded the Grand Prix at the 1st National Music Instrument Competition in Kishinev in 1993; a honorable mention at the 10th International Tchaikovsky Competition; a golden medal, diploma and a special prize of the Russian Luthiers Union at the 1998 Tchaikovsky competition. At the 2001International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznań he received First Prize, a medal from the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers for the best artisanry, a Silver Fan award from the director of the violin making school in Tokyo for the best violin maker. He is a member of the Russian Violin Makers’ Union.

Josef Vávra (b. 4 Nov. 1912 in Martin, Slovakia; d. 1998 in Luby, Czechoslovakia), son of Štěpan and Veronika (née Hrušková), member of a known multi-generational family of violin makers. In 1927–1931 he trained with his uncle Jan Baptista Vávra (1870–1937), then worked for him for two more years, and later for his cousin Alfons F. Vávra (1901–1957) in Prague from 1934 until the end of World War II. Subsequently, he moved to Luby (Schönbach) to establish his own atelier. In 1946–1959 he taught at the International Violin Making School in Cremona. He made instruments after Guarneri’s and – less frequently – Stradivari’s models. By 1976 he had made ca. 350 instruments, including four quartets, fifteen violas, and five cellos. From 1945 on, he applied burned signatures: Josef Vávra Luby, plus a handwritten signature. He also used printed labels with a trademark (a tuning fork crossed with a violin with a leafy branch in the background), the inscription: JOSEF VÁVRA /  LUBY / fecit anno 19 (59); or: VÁVRA JOSEF / houslař / Luby – 19(57) on the left and and the stamp: JOSEF VAVRA / HOUSLAR. He received prizes at international violin making competitions in Prague (1954), Poznań (1957 – Second Prize, First not awarded), Ascola-Piaceno (1959), Liège (1960). He was granted the title of Meritorious Culture Worker in 1981.

Bibliography: V. Pilař, F. Šrámek, Umění houslařů, (Praha 1986) pp. 172, 354; http://www.wieniawski-competition.com/konkurs-lutniczy/en/aktualnosci/galeria-fotografii/ (access: 9 Apr. 2017)

Jochen Voigt (b. 1948 (?) in Markneukirchen), son and pupil of Werner Voigt. He became a master luthier and worked independently in Makneukirchen. In 1986 he moved to Munich. Awarded in violin making competitions in Mittenwald, Poznań (1981 – Fourth Prize) and Kassel. He showed his instruments at the exhibitions in Munich, Vienna, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney and Frankfurt am Main.

Bibliography: W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart, (Tutzing 1990), p. 659; http://www.geigenbau-voigt.de/ (23.02.2017); http://www.corilon.com/shop/en/item1485_2.html (23.02.2017)

Werner Voigt (b. 25 Feb. 1911 in Markneukirchen), son of Johannes Martin, pupil of Hermann Reichel of Markneukirchen (1927–1929), then journeyman with Henry Werro in Bern (until 1935), Hans Leistner in Nuremberg (1936–1937) and Köchendorfer in Stuttgart (1937–1938). In 1938 he became a master luthier in Markneukirchen, where he then worked in the well-known atelier of M. & G. Voigt. In 1939 he was employed again by Werro in Bern. After the war, he rejoined the M. & G. Voigt firm in Markneukirchen; in 1952 he took it over.

Bibliography: W. L. F. von Lüttgendorf, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelarter bis zur Gegenwart, (Tutzing 1990), p. 660

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (b. 7 Oct. 1798 Mirecourt; d. 19 Mar. 1875 Paris) was one of the most outstanding French violin makers, collectors and instrument merchants, son and pupil of Claude-Françis V (b. 1772; d. 1834), member of a multigenerational family of luthiers. From 1818 he worked for F. Chanot in Paris. In 1821 he took up employment with N. A. Lété (son-in-law of violin maker François-Louisa Pique), becoming his partner in 1825. His first violin is dated 1823. In 1827 he started to create copies of old Italian masters’ instruments, winning a silver medal at a national exhibition in Paris in 1828 and establishing his own company. Having carried out in-depth studies of old masters’ instruments, he gained fame as Europe’s best expert in the field and earned a substantial fortune trading them. He built altogether ca. 3000 instruments, first in French masters’ style ( (N. Lupot and F.-L. Pique). After 1830 he made faithful copies of famous violins (by Stradivari, including copies of “Messiah”, Guarneri, Amati, Maggini), gaining extraordinary visual and acoustic effects. He was in close contacts with well known Italian collector L. Tarisi, whose priceless collection he bought after the owner’s death in 1854. He built imitations of violins singed “Caspar Tieffenbrucker”, starting the mistaken belief that that luthier had been the first violin maker whereas in reality he built only lutes. He also made cheaper, school instruments, never forgetting about excellent finishing, and excellent bows, too. His instruments won many accolades, including prizes at the world exhibitions in London in 1851 and Paris in 1855. He was honored with the Legion of Honor in 1851. He constructed experimental instruments as well, for example a pedal double bass measuring over three meters in height, an enlarged viola, or a bow with a metal stick.

Bibliography: R. Wieczorek, Villaume Jean-Baptiste, in: Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM, ed. E. Dziębowska, vol. t-v, (Kraków 2009), pp. 317-318; C. Beare, J. Liivoja-Lorius/P. J. Kass, Villaume Jean-Baptiste, in: The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, 2nd ed., ed. L. Libin, vol. 5, (Oxford 2014) pp. 270-271

Sebastien Vuillaume (b. 18 June 1835 Mirecourt; d. 17 Nov. 1875 Paris), son and pupil of Claude-Francois, nephew of Jean-Baptiste, last member of the Parisian dynasty of violin makers. He worked for his famous uncle and later opened his own workshop at 27 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. His perfect violins and bows, of a similar quality as his uncle’s, where awarded medals at the 1867 and 1868 exhibitions. After his death, his journeyman Nestor-Dominique Audinot took the workshop over. He applied printed labels reading Sebastien Vuillaume a Paris / 27. Boulevard Bonne-Novelle [with S†V in a double circle]. In 1859 he married the daughter of violin maker Dominique Peccatte.

Bibliography.: W. L. F. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 547

Antoni Wayda (b. 5 Dec. 1915 Przemyśl; d. 23 March 1978 Warsaw) was a civil servant and self-taught violin maker. After completing a primary school and military service in Lviv, he worked with the local department of the State Fire Service. From 1952 lived in Warsaw, where he was a senior officer with the State Fire Service's headquarters from 1957. Interested in violin making, since 1934 he had remained in close contact with Lviv masters, mainly Leon Greipner as well as Adam Kościelecki, Franciszek Kopański and Grzegorz Wójtyszyn. After the war he returned to his hobby, this time using input from Jan Karoń and Eugeniusz Gosiewski. He built violins only, mostly after Stradivari and other Cremona’s masters, with well applied red-brown oil varnish. His instruments are made with great skill, from the best tonewood and have artistically finished scrolls. After 1960 his violins were valued at 125 pounds in England.

Bibliography: B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004)

Krzysztof Wincenty Węgrzyn (b. 18 July 1954 in Zakopane) learned violin making at the Technical School of Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ, which he finished in 1974, subsequently taking up employment in the Lower Silesia Stringed Instrument Manufacturers in Lubin. In 1976 and 1977 he trained as a violin maker for several months in the workshop of Franciszek Marduła in Zakopane, and in 1979 under Mieczysław Bielański in Wroclaw. He has built over 350 violins, 47 violas and 10 cellos. He specializes in the manufacture of violins for children and young musicians. He has successfully taken part in several Polish national and international competitions in Poznań, such as the Z. Szulc competition (1979, 1984, 1989), A. Stradivari competition (1987), W. Kamiński competition (1994), H. Wieniawski competition (1981, 1986, 1991, 1996), as well as the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (1990, 1994), and similar competitions in Sofia (1982), Cremona (1988), Mittenwald (1989), Hradec Králové (1989) and Náchod (1997). He has given many lectures on the subject of violin making accompanying national and international violin competitions in Wrocław and Zielona Góra. He has also held a series of talks with pupils in primary schools of music across the country about the building, conservation and maintenance of bowed string instruments.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004)

Jerzy Edward Wielbut (b. 11 Jan. 1936 in Smolugi near Brańsk; d. 4 Oct. 1990 in Warsaw), son of Zygmunt and Germana, née Miłkowska, of noble origin (Wąż coat of arms). In 1964 he finished a secondary school of music in Warsaw, having studied the double bass. From 1965 to 1968 he studied violin making under Jan Zajewski. He made his first instrument in 1968. Until 1979 he also worked as a musician in a symphony orchestra and chamber ensembles, as well as in the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra. In 1979 he left for Mexico, where he was active until 1981 as a musician and violin maker (making double bass bows among others). In total he built over 40 instruments, including violins, violas and cellos, as well as bows. Also dealt in correcting and restoring instruments. He was a juror of the 5h H. Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition in Poznań in 1977.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004); Information from the family.

Marian Michał Wyka (b. 16 Sept. 1901 in Sadkowa Górna, in the Suwałki region; d. 4 Dec. 1963 in Warsaw) learnt violin making by himself, consulting available professional literature and collaborating with the Warsaw makers A. Różycki and A. Kostelecki (1925–1939). He studied at Warsaw Polytechnic, and worked as a professional bank clerk. He used handwritten labels: Marian Wyka / budował w Warszawie w 19... After World War Two, from 1953 onwards, he was adviser to the Musical Industry Union. He won First and Second Prize at the Polish National Violin Making Competition in Warsaw in 1955. He twice sat on the jury of the International String Quartet Competition in Liège (1957 and 1960), and was a honorary member of the Italian Artistic Violin Making Union (ANLAI). A founding member of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers, and secretary of the Executive Board from 1954 to 1963. It was under his initiative that the Collection of Stringed Instruments of the Ministry of Culture and the Arts was established.

Bibliography: Archives of the Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers (ZPAL);  Z. Szulc, Słownik lutników polskich (Poznań 1953); A. Kucharska, Współczesna polska sztuka lutnicza, (Bydgoszcz 1989); Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, ed. M. Waller (Poznań 2004);  B. Vogel, Słownik lutników działających na historycznych i obecnych ziemiach polskich oraz lutników polskich działających za granicą do 1950 roku (Szczecin 2007)

Janusz Zawisza (b. 27 Oct. 1947 in Turaszówka near Krosno; d. 10 Dec. 1980 in Warsaw) studied violin making in the Technical School of the Stringed Instrument Making in Nowy Targ (1964–1969). He practiced at Józef Bartoszek’s and Stanisław Marduła’s ateliers in 1970. Later he worked at the Aviation Repairing Plant in Krosno (1971–1975). From 1975 he ran his own violin making atelier in Rymanów Zdrój. He applied handwritten calligraphic labels: ROK BUDOWY 1980 / JANUSZ ZAWISZA / RYMANÓW ZDRÓJ.

Bibliography: Polska sztuka lutnicza 1954-2004, red. M. Waller, (Poznań 2004), p. 218

Valentino de Zorzi (b. 1837 in Vittorio Veneto, Treviso; d. 1916 in Florence) was a fighter in Garibaldi’s army, then a blacksmith and armorer in Bologna. In 1880 he opened a blacksmithing and carpentry workshop in Pistoia. A self-taught violin maker, he made his first violin to an order from a local music instrument collector and music lover, count Vieri Ganucci Cancellieri. He moved to Florence in 1885 and worked on via del Corso with Silvio Paoletti, who later took over the workshop. He made violins using his own model and patterned after Stradivari and Stainer. He also built plucked string instruments. He invented the so-called contraviolino as well as the harp-guitar (18 strings, five-octave range). He applied handwritten labels reading: Valentinus De Zorzi / Cenetensi Venetum fecit / Florentiae A 1880. no. 7., and featuring initials V.D.Z. burnt in different places. He was awarded a golden medal at the 1881 Milan exhibition, silver medal at the 1888 Bologna exhibition, honorable mentions in Pistoia, Tolone and Marseille in 1899, and a grand honorable prize at the 1890 Paris exhibition.

Bibliography: W.L. v. Lütgendorff, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, (Frankfurt a. Main 1922), p. 101