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I have been specialising in making baroque violins since the very opening of my studio in Brussels in 2002. Ever since, I have been working on this subject in the close collaboration with Sigiswald Kuijken and the finest musicians from the circle of La Petite Bande, Ricercaro Consort, Il Fondamento, Les Agremens, Anima Aeterna in Belgium but also with musicians and ensembles from all other continents and countries of Europe, Russia and Japan.

Periods

My baroque violins are based on a large number of surviving historical models and on the immense number of historical documents related to the context in which the violin evolved: baroque art and music. My “default” model is suitable for a huge repertoire, though one can say, it is ideal for the repertoire from the end of the 17th century till, with some stretching, W.A.Mozart and early Haydn.

Basic sound profiles

I have two basic models, which Antonio Bagatella, a violin-maker who had worked for Giuseppe Tartini during 30 years described in 1783 as voce umana and voce argentina - a human voice and a silvery voice. A have various flavours of these two basic models which can be adjusted to your personal preferences. It is also possible to adjust the two models to the repertoire of your choice in general or per project - my instruments are exceptionally flexible and reliable to even drastic changes in setup, to playing in a pitch as low as 384Hz or as high as 465Hz and to stringing with the e’’-string max.79 and g-string up to 2.8mm thick. My default stringing is based on the generally used in the 18th-19th centuries but it is of course possible to string my violins with very thin strings. Generally, thinner stringing is always recommended for solo repertoire and for 1st violins. Thicker stringing recommended for the 2nd violins and accompaniment.

I have also made early baroque violins in an italian style - instruments which would be suitable for the music of Monteverdi and such. I have also made german early baroque instruments - a set of these - for la Petite Bande for the music of H.Schutz and composers preceding J.S.Bach: Erlebach, Krieger, Frank and many others. You can see the set of my instruments on the picture of La Petite Bande. Apart from these, I also make violas, viola d’amore and violoncello da spalla, which was one of my brightest reconstructions - now the instrument is firmly back on the concert stage and the number of players is growing.

Baroque violins, violas and violoncello da spalla in the hands of the players:

Kaoru Ouchiyama plays one of my baroque violins made for her at my studio in Tokyo (Now I am based in The Netherlands).

La Petite Bande with a set of early baroque violins, where except for the first and the fourth all instruments made by me.

Sigiswald Kuijken holds a violoncello da spalla, the second instrument of this kind I made for him in Tokyo. The first violoncello da spalla has been made in Brussels. La Petite Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken own about nine instruments from my studio. Ryo Terakado commissioned the very first prototype of early baroque violin I ever made. Here on the photo he is shown with a violoncello da spalla. He also owns a beautiful violin with a grotesque intarsio on the fingerboard and uses it frequently in place of his Grancino.

My clients

Some of my clients are Aaron Westman, Akio Obuchi, Ataúlfo Antón, Blai Justo, Carlos Albuisech, Cristobal Urrutia del Rio, Diana Roche, François Fernandez, Géraldine Roux, Hatano Masayuki, Hisashi Ono, Harumi Koijke Izumi Sato, Jamie Hey, Jesenka Balic Zunic, Johan van Aken, Kaoru Ouchiyama, Luis Otávio Santos, Madoka Nakamaru, Miwa Ogino, Mikio Tsunoda, Mika Akiha, Maartje Geris, Noois Stryncks, Natsumi Wakamatsu, Paolo Cantamessa, Ritsu Kotake, Rainer Arndt, Ryo Terakado, Sigiswald Kuijken, Sergey Malov, Sara Kuijken, Samantha Montgomery, SeungRock Baek, Vincent Lesage, Yasue Higuchi, Yuki Koike, Yukie Yamaguchi and many others.