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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Camouflaging a patch using a veneer
An innovative and intricate method for a taxing problem in restoration
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1925 violin by Carlo Carletti
Leonardo Cella examines the early 20th-century instrument
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: How to make a lighter viola
For some violists, playing on a lighter instrument is their holy grail. Laurent Zakowsky describes his methods to accomplish this, from thinning the back to changing the chinrest
Premium ❘ FeatureSgarabotto and Ornati: lives in fragments
When Giuseppe Ornati and Pietro Sgarabotto donated the contents of their workshops to the Cremona School of Violin Making, they ensured an enduring legacy. Luca Baratto and Matteo Giovanetti tell the story and examine some of the treasures
FocusWhy do some 18th-century French violins have an ebony border round the edges?
Inspired by a c.1760 Chappuy instrument, violinist and cellist Michel Lorge considers the reasons for an unusual stylistic quirk of 18th-century violin making
Premium ❘ FeatureRudolf Neudörfer: guardian of a lineage
The German bow maker Rudolf Neudörfer celebrates his 90th birthday next month. Gennady Filimonov looks back at his life and career, exploring the Neudörfer dynasty of makers and examining his bows
- Premium ❘ Feature
Sgarabotto and Ornati: lives in fragments
When Giuseppe Ornati and Pietro Sgarabotto donated the contents of their workshops to the Cremona School of Violin Making, they ensured an enduring legacy. Luca Baratto and Matteo Giovanetti tell the story and examine some of the treasures
- Focus
Why do some 18th-century French violins have an ebony border round the edges?
Inspired by a c.1760 Chappuy instrument, violinist and cellist Michel Lorge considers the reasons for an unusual stylistic quirk of 18th-century violin making
- Premium ❘ Feature
Rudolf Neudörfer: guardian of a lineage
The German bow maker Rudolf Neudörfer celebrates his 90th birthday next month. Gennady Filimonov looks back at his life and career, exploring the Neudörfer dynasty of makers and examining his bows
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Camouflaging a patch using a veneer
An innovative and intricate method for a taxing problem in restoration
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1925 violin by Carlo Carletti
Leonardo Cella examines the early 20th-century instrument
- Premium ❘ Feature
Making Matters: How to make a lighter viola
For some violists, playing on a lighter instrument is their holy grail. Laurent Zakowsky describes his methods to accomplish this, from thinning the back to changing the chinrest
My Space: Koichi Furukawa’s Osaka workshop
The maker presents his shop located in Japan’s second largest city
My Space: Andreas Hampel and Susanne Riebesehl’s Hamburg workshop
The two luthiers present their German workshop
My Space: Nurgül Çomak’s Istanbul workshop
The Turkish maker presents her workshop in the cosmopolitan city
Premium ❘ Feature
Making Matters: How to make a lighter viola
For some violists, playing on a lighter instrument is their holy grail. Laurent Zakowsky describes his methods to accomplish this, from thinning the back to changing the chinrest
Premium ❘ Feature
In a spirit of collaboration: Brandenburg experiments
Makers at the annual Brandenburg violin making workshop joined forces on a two-year project to build and test two identical violins, one of which was made with treated wood. The results were intriguing. Adam Winskill reports on the methodology and findings
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Even split, even grain
A simple method for joining plates with even grain orientation
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A c.1880–90 viola by Enrico Marchetti
Sean Bishop examines the late-nineteenth-century instrument
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: An 1822 violin by Georges Chanot I
Jonathan Marolle examines the French maker’s early instrument
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Making a paper template for a scroll
A procedure that allows for accurate reproduction as well as being a stimulant to creativity
Premium ❘ Feature
Iberian lutherie guilds: Tradition and Innovation
Instrument making in the Iberian peninsula was once tightly controlled by a network of guilds. Pablo Soriano examines regulations and personal documents to reveal the details of luthiers’ working lives
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 2019 Octobass
Standing 11 feet 8 inches tall, the instrument was built by luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès and is now played by Eric Chappell of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1712 ‘Viotti, Hottinger’ Antonio Stradivari violin
’The noble beauty of its tone seems to us to echo the elevated style of Viotti’s compositions’ said the Hills of this violin
Premium ❘ Feature
A master of his craft: Simone Fernando Sacconi
Born 130 years ago, Simone Fernando Sacconi was a brilliant violin maker and restorer, a respected teacher and, latterly, a celebrated author. Friends, colleagues and former students share their memories with Peter Somerford
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1767 Nicolò Gagliano cello
Formerly owned by Roger Smith of the Gagliano Trio, this fine example of Gagliano’s work is now played by Thomas Mesa
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1713 ‘G. Schönau’ Antonio Stradivari violin
This fascinating example of Stradivari’s work is played by Nikki Chooi, the current concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
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