FABRICE GIRARDIN, MASTER LUTHIER

Fabrice Girardin is currently one of the top experts for historical Italian instruments. He has restored and appraise a large number of these instruments and this allows him to analyse them and to study the tiniest of details, and he archives his work in a photographic library of more than 20,000 photos.

He is a member of the highly prestigious International Society of Master Violin and Bow Makers and he is a well-known specialist, much esteemed for his top-quality restoration work in terms of both aesthetics and tone.

He helps to develop the requisite expertise, in particular thanks to his varnish analyses and his use of “dendrochronology” to date the wood used and ascertain its origins. He has also made significant discoveries concerning the Guadagnini, Bergonzi and other families.

• Studied violin and cello from the age of nine
• Apprenticeship at the Lutherie de Brienz school from 1969 to 1973
• Assistant to the master violin maker Hans Wenger (CH) from 1973 to 1977
• Master violin maker with Frans van Dijk (D) from 1977 to 1978
• Federal master violin maker’s exam in 1979
• Member of the Swiss Association of Luthiers from 1979 to 2003
  and president of this association from 1998 to 2002
• Member of the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers since 1995
• President of the panel of experts for the federal master violin maker’s examinations until 2003
• Insurance expert, in particular for Lloyd’s, one of the most important insurance companies for musical instruments
• Independent since 1978
• Established an S.A. (Swiss Public Limited Company) in 2015 in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland)