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LUTHERIE 2009
The speakers
Helen Michetschläger
Steam-bent fronts for violas: a practical demonstration
Helen
Michetschläger was a student at Newark School of Violin Making from 1977-1980.
Since then she has worked as a self-employed violin maker, specialising in
violas and cellos, and has made over 240 instruments to date. Her interest
in violas has led her to develop her own models for small-sized instruments and
to develop the technique for steam-bending fronts that is the subject of this
talk. She has written for the Strad magazine and lectured at Lutherie 2006
and at the BVMA’s 2008 Dartington Conference.
Steam-bent
fronts for violas: a practical demonstration
Helen
Michetschläger will introduce the technique of steam-bending spruce fronts and
discuss the technical background to the process. Helen will also give a
live demonstration of bending a front.
John Topham
Dendrochronology
John
Topham trained
as a violin maker in the Fachschule für Geigenbau, Mittenwald graduating in
1971. John then worked with Dietrich Kessler at the shop of Edward Withers Ltd.
where he made and restored many instruments of the violin and viol families. In 1979 John became self-employed and now works as a freelance
restorer.
In
1985 John graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and science at
the Open University in the UK. In
1995 he began work on methods to dendrochronologically investigate instruments
of the violin and viol families as well as lutes, guitars and clavichords.
Along with his colleague, Derek McCormick (a scientist, who previously
worked at Queen’s University, Belfast) John has published two papers in
the Journal of Archaeological Science about work done on British and Italian
instruments, the latter including the 1716 Antonio Stradivari violin known as
the “Messiah”.
Introduction
to the subject, its origins, the first use with violins, past research done by
other researchers on violins and my own previous research.
The
technique as practiced on violins, the equipment used and examples of how
the dating of wood on violins is carried out.
Examples
of how the comparison of data taken from wood from some instruments, along
with data from other instruments, leads to interesting new associations between
instruments and makers.
An
overview of John's
work with nearly 120 Stradivari violins showing a diagram that relates nearly 70
of them in a way that gives an idea of how Stradivari chose his wood throughout
his 60 year career. These
associations were also not known before.
John
will then extend the idea of associating instruments of one maker over a period
of years by including diagrams of of nearly 30 instruments made by Guarneri del
Gesù, 30 instruments by Guadagnini and instruments by makers from Brescia and
Holland.
Stepan Soultanian
Fitting-up and sound adjustment
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