P A Lutherie

Edition Four Feature
Words by: Paris Andrew 
Location: Florence, Italy 
Photo Credit: ©Marcela Shneider Ferreira @hashtagitaly

I am a self-employed luthier living and working in sunny Florence, Italy. I make bowed string instruments by hand in the historic tradition, and not only violins: I am a specialist in the construction of baroque period instruments. I will soon be finalising my thesis with a collection of mediaeval instruments, which I am very excited about. I also love restoration and repair work – the more complicated, the better. Every restoration is a unique puzzle. I ask myself how can I fix this instrument and hide the repair in such a way that no one can see there was ever any damage. 

I travel around the world to exhibit my instruments at major international fairs, which is fun but rather tiring. As well as bowed instruments, I also have experience of working on harpsichords, which I adore but unfortunately just don’t have the space for in my current workshop. 

Living and working in Florence was never part of my plan, but rather is down to a twist of fate. Four years ago, I was living in busy East London, in the UK, and trying to work out of the ‘workshop section’ of my tiny flat. I decided I wanted to learn more about the Tuscan style of violin making and, on a whim, contacted a collective of luthiers here in Florence. They very kindly welcomed me to spend a couple of weeks in their workshop, observing and making a violin in their style. Four years later, I’m still here. My Italian is still a little rusty but it’s hard not to love living in a country with such a rich cultural heritage (and such good food and wine). I love having the opportunity to take inspiration from the luthiers around me and from the city itself. 

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