Born in Florence in 1984. He started playing violin at a young age and was introduced to violin making as a teenager, attending an amateur violin maker workshop. After obtaining the high school diploma, following his passion for woodworking, he worked as an apprentice in a sawmill.
Subsequently, he got a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences and a master’s degree in biology. During his studies, he deepened his knowledge in violin making with the aim to reach the professional level.
Since 2014, he attended several violin-making courses, among which the one at the “Sandro Pertini” Professional Training Institute in Trento. At the same time, he has been under the private tutelage of Master violin maker Luca Primon in his workshop, acquiring more refined techniques in the manual construction of stringed instruments. From careful tonewood selection to instrument setup, varnishing, and the making of classical varnishes in violin making.
Since then, Andrea also started a learning relationship with Master violin maker Gianmaria Stelzer: he had acquired other skills in setup and sound adjustment techniques and small restorations.
In 2018, he won funding to participate in the “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” exchange program of the European Union. He was able to work as an apprentice for Master violin maker Andreas Hudelmayer in London, where he learnt techniques in copying and antiquing.
In 2019 he was commissioned by Maestro Domenico Pierini, Conductor and Concertmaster of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, for a violin that is his principal instrument to date.
In 2020, he won the 1st competition “I Suoni del Legno” with a violin that scored the best sound ranking. The instrument was then purchased by the Società Filarmonica di Trento, to be loaned to worthy players.
In 2022, Andrea began working with violin maker and restorer Kyle Schultz in collaboration in Florence. They work closely with musicians to acquire the best sound and feel of their instruments whether it be in new making or restoration.
Born in 1997, Kyle Schultz fell in love with violins when he was young. The instrument fascinated him. All his childhood, he wanted to play the violin.
He started playing at a young age, and through the years, he further developed his fondness for the mechanics and history of the violin.
Kyle decided to learn the craft of violin making and repair through an introduction to numerous books and articles, all written by our most talented craftspeople. This led him to build his first two violins. ln the same period, he was given the opportunity to do minor repairs on student violins at his music school, this was an experience that he cherish as the roots of his craft.
In 2018 he applied to the internationally renowned Newark School of Violin Making and Repair, which received a First-Class Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours. During his three years of studying at the Newark School, he attended lectures with world-renowned makers and restorers as well as receiving funding for courses and the furthering of his degree all generously awarded by the RAB (Rowan Armour-Brown) Memorial Trust for all the years of his degree. What gave him later the opportunity to learn new skills and further his understanding of fine violin making and restoration.
He set up his own workshop in 2021 from home in Newbury in the United Kingdom where he made and designed his own instruments. He then moved to Florence to work in collaboration with Andrea Giovannetti, where we work together on making.
Kyle works as a restorer in Florence, primarily on violins, violas and cello. He offers a wide range of restoration and repair services as well as bespoke setup for new and antique instruments.
This viola is composed of spruce from Val di Fiemme with a medium to wider grain with slight figuring. The back is from Bosnian maple in two pieces with uneven flames. The rosin based oil varnish is of a Golden-Amber colour with an antiqued finish, showing the textures of the wood as well as the corduroy surface of the front plate. The viola includes bespoke fittings with silver decorations on each end of the pegs—designed alongside a Florentine jeweler on models used from the style of the 19th century.
It was a personal design of Kyle. It is of the lower limit of Viola size, but due to its advanced design it produces the dark timbre and power of a full sized viola—perfect for any violist looking for an excellent instrument that suits their specific anatomy. The scroll outline and design was chosen from the style and geometric function of Niccolò Amati, showing its full rounded turns of the spiral as well as the long, elongated front and back views.
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