Violin Maker
Fiorella Anelli
Cremona, Italy
Her adventure in the world of violin making started. where art, craft, and music blend in harmony, at the School of Violin Making of Milan. After moving to Cremona, Fiorella graduated in baroque violin making, which led her to understand the evolution of the violin from its origins to modern times and to better develop her personal style.Read more
Short Bio
Full Name: Fiorella Anelli
Age: 42
Highlights
Experience: 20 Years
New making style: New
Credentials
Experienced Maker
Background as a Musician
Cremonese Traditional Handcraftsmanship
Violin Making Researcher
Works with own model
Locally making
Cremona, Italy
Maker Background
Fiorella was born in Milan in 1981. She has always been fascinated by music and soon became immersed in this magic by studying piano. Thanks to a precious suggestion, she visited the "School of Violin Making of Milan," and its enchanting, timeless atmosphere fascinated her immediately.Violin making, a continuously evolving field where theory and practice interact with each other constantly in various disciplines, such as organology, physical acoustic, and varnish chemistry, become ideal after graduating from Scientific High school. In 2004 she got her degree from the School of Violin Making of Milan, where she was a student of M° Paola Vecchio, a student herself of M° Luca Primon. She also obtains a specialization in restoration techniques of string instruments.
The following year she moved to Cremona, where she worked as an assistant in various workshops, deepening her knowledge of the construction method, repairs, and sound adjustment. She graduated in Cremona in 2008 in the "Baroque Violin Making" course, studying the construction methods and the history of the ancient instruments while making some baroque violins, a viola da gamba, and their bows.
She makes instruments inspired by the old Cremonese tradition, and she cares a lot about the tonal qualities, the style, and the craft of her instruments in every detail, searching for a unique, powerful sound with a warm and rich tone. She uses oil varnish based on ancient recipes to create depth and a warm tone. She chooses only the finest and well-seasoned tonewoods, Val di Fiemme's spruce and Balcan's maple, characterized by excellent acoustic quality.
Since 2017 she is a member of the Cultural District of Violin in Cremona, a network that keeps alive the search for high-level violinmaking, defending its traditional know-how. Thanks to District, she can participate continuously in varnish workshops, physics of acoustics, and many others. Als, she had the opportunity to have in her hands and listen to violins from the "Museo del Violino," including masterpieces of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri.
She works in Cremona in her workshop located in via Beltrami 28, in an ancient Renaissance palace near the Cathedral and the Violin Museum, sources of artistic inspiration, conscious of working in the most charming city in the world to create her violins.
Maker Interview
Why did you start making instruments?
I discovered and deepened my passion for violin making after high school when I enrolled at the Civic School of Lutherie in Milan, where I graduated in 2004. I knew with certainty that I wanted to do an artisan work connected to music, in which theory and practice went together. I started playing the piano from the first year of high school, and it was during a lesson that I was suggested to go and visit the lutherie school. When I went there, I was deeply fascinated by its magical atmosphere and the silence full of concentration. I found the class students I visited intending to build their violin with the utmost dedication. It was there that my adventure in the violin world began, where craftsmanship, art, and music blend harmoniously.
Gradually and step by step, violin after violin, violin making has become my lifestyle and mission.
Why your instruments are so special?
In 2008 in Cremona, I graduated in the Baroque Lutherie Course, studying the construction methods and the history of ancient instruments, making various baroque violins and a viola da gamba and their relative bows. Studies on Baroque violin making are critical to fully understand the evolution of the violin from its origins to the modern and contemporary era. They led me to develop my personal aesthetic and acoustic style to search for a tone rich in nuances, powerful, and recognizable - In the construction, details such as the carving of the f-holes and the scroll, the color and texture of my oil varnish.
The updating on contemporary acoustic studies and exchanging opinions and experiences with fellow luthiers also allows me to constantly expand my knowledge and acoustic quality of my instruments, especially studying the top and backplates' arching and thickness.
What is your inspiration?
The creation of my violins allows me to express myself artistically and translate my contemporary vision of the violin. My work is based on rediscovering the great masters of the ancient Cremonese School, adding new words each time, and a clear modern imprint.
For this reason, I prefer the reinterpretation to the copy of an ancient instrument. I love making my instruments with varnish and all construction details intact, leaving time to add its marks authentically.