Biography Violinmaker Samuel Zygmuntowicz, was already a prize-winning sculptor before beginning his instrumentmaking studies at age 13. Since 1985 he has made instruments by advance commission for performers such as Cho-Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Leila Josefowicz, and members of the Emerson String Quartet, among many more. He studied advanced making and restoration with Carl Becker and Rene Morel at the SLC Violinmaking School and is Creative Director of the Strad3D project, under the direction of physicist George Bissinger. Sam lives in Brooklyn and plays fiddle with a variety of performing folk music groups. His recordings include Grand Picnic and Jump When the Trumpets Blow.
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personal style, with upright c-bouts, longer f-holes, and a rich, red varnish, similar to the intensely colored varnish of Stradivari and Guissepe Guarneri “del Gesu.” Carlo moved in to Stradivari’s house and shop in 1747. His son Michele Angelo Bergonzi remained there as the last of the great Cremonese makers, but the decline had begun. While the traditions of the old masters were interrupted, their instruments remain as superlative musician’s tools. As these instruments increase in rarity and price, it has been imperative to look past the mystique to understand the underlying principles that created that quality. Close study of the old master instruments have inspired and set the stage for the current resurgence of contemporary violinmaking. — Sam Zygmuntowicz
Instruments in The Violin Maker and The Glory of Cremona have been provided by the artists or borrowed from the Sau-Wing Lam Collection.
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