Violin Maker
Giovannetti & Schultz
Florence, Italy
Andrea Giovannetti and Kyle Schultz combine their knowledge and experience dedicating themselves to crafting high-level instruments,interpretating the work of the great Italian Masters, to reach the highest professional level required by the most demanding musicians.Read more
Short Bio
Full Name: Giovannetti & Schultz
Age: 39
Highlights
Experience: 10 Years
New making style: AntiquedCopy
Credentials
Rising Star-Maker
Background as a Musician
Innovative Maker
Cremonese Traditional Handcraftsmanship
Acknowledge Copyist
Awards
2023, Gold Medal in the antiqued section at the International Violin Making Competion of Pisogne of the National Association of Artistic Italian Violin Making
2020, Winner in the violin section “I Suoni del Legno” Competition by Società Filarmonica di Trento
Locally making
Florence, Italy
Maker Background
Andrea Giovannetti was born in Florence in 1984, 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. 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 learned techniques in copying and antiquing.Kyle Schultz was born in South Africa in 1997, and also 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 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.
Maker Interview
What famous people play your instruments?
In 2019 I was contacted by Maestro Domenico Pierini, Conductor and Concertmaster, that tried some of my instruments. I was very happy when he decided to commission me a violin. We agreed on a Guarneri del Gesù copy.
Why did you start making instruments?
As a young student, I was fascinated about my violin: to me it was a mysterious blend of simplicity and complexity; how could something made out of “simple” wood produce such a unique and beautiful sound? So, curiosity led me to deepen my knowledge on technical and constructive features underlying the instrument’s functioning. I was also fascinated by violins as works of art: their peculiar shape, their differences in style and their singular personalities led me to discover violin making history as a branch of the history of arts that I already loved. This eventually led me to make some violins that came out to be better and better with dedication, practice and study, until eventually, I decided to make a career out of this path.
Why your instruments are so special?
I see each of my violins as an “act of creation”: each of them is a distinct individual born as the outcome of research, study, design, technical skills and artistic taste combined all together. Research and study are of paramount importance: I want my violins to have the best acoustical properties, so I make them out of top-quality tonewood. As I have learnt from my masters and my experience, there aren’t two identical pieces of wood, so each violin requires the proper manufacture to achieve the best acoustic performance. I take great care of every details: I produce my own purflings as well as my varnishes. On the back of my knowledge in organic and polymer chemistry I carry on experimental research on the synthesis of classical varnish in my own workshop; my main goal is to recreate varnishes compatible with the analysis results of the cremonese varnishes of violins from XVII - XVIII centuries. Also the design is very important, as I want my instruments to look like the violins of the great Italian tradition; I make extensive use of all kinds of documentation available on ancient instruments: measurements and notes, photographic documents, researches and articles, and casts taken directly on the originals. Last but not least, I want my violons to have a peculiar character and reflect my artistic taste and the passion for my work, I don’t always make copies, but I often like to balance philological data and personal interpretations of the old cremonese masters.
What is your inspiration?
My inspiration is the history of Italian violin making and thus the old masters. During the so-called “golden age of violin making”, Italian and especially cremonese violin makers experimented new ways and methods to improve the acoustics of stringed instruments and refined their aesthetic. While the Amati and then Stradivari formalized the geometrical construction of the violin, laying the foundations of modern violin making, Guarneri del Gesù - my favorite maker - in someway deconstructed that canon, implementing with Brescian influences and applying his personal and instinctive style on it. This subtle balance between technics and art is what I love of violin making.