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| Colin Wills | |||||||
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Specialism: Violin, viola and cello maker Contact: Hare and Hounds Exton Dulverton Somerset TA22 9JT UK
I have made violins, violas and cellos since 1979 having attended a violin-making course at London College of Furniture. In the 1981 Facta Britannia Violin Making Competition, I won first prize for Violin Tonal Quality and was runner-up in the competition overall. The following year my cello won the overall prize for best instrument. My work was profiled in ‘The Strad’ in April 1983. Parallel to my instrument making I set up a successful and longstanding evening class in Violin Making at East Devon College and instigated the Tiverton and Dartington Violin Conferences. Now, early retirement from my parallel career as an architect means that I can make more instruments and contribute further to British violin making. My instruments have classical origins, but never seek to be exact copies. The intention is to recreate the excitement and freshness of 17th and 18th century violin making, and avoid slavish historicism. The violin is a tool, enabling players to generate subtleties of sound, with apparent ease, and that must be the principal impetus for their construction. VIOLINS Most of my violins are based on Stradivari originals with my personal detailing, some in original baroque format. Other models include copies from Gaspar da Salo and Joseph Guarneri del Gesu. These or other models can be supplied to order. VIOLAS Recent violas have been based on Gasparo da Salo originals, ranging from a 15½ instrument based on the ‘Kievman’, and the 16½” pattern based on the viola owned by Henry Myerscough. CELLOS My ten cellos have their origins in the Stradivari Haussmann instrument of 1724, with variations to archings and rib depth. Other patterns may be commissioned. | ||||||
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