Florian Leonhard

Florian Leonhard (born in Düsseldorf 1963) is a London-based violin maker, dealer, restorer and expert.[1] Florian has dedicated his life to studying, restoring and making violins. After studying in at Mittenwald School of Violin Making, he worked for W.E. Hill and Sons becoming Head Restorer.

Career

His firm, Florian Leonhard Fine Violins, has restored and supplied instruments by Stradivarius and the Guarnerius family for a number of renowned players including Leonidas Kavakos, Daniel Hope, Julian Lloyd Webber and Alina Ibragimova as well as to competition winners.[2]

Florian and his team also make what are believed to be the finest extant bench copies of Stradivari, Guarneri, and other fine string instruments – i.e. those legendary instruments believed to be impossible to replicate. These bench copies represent a unique opportunity for instrumentalists who cannot afford and do not have access to the originals to play on an instrument that looks, sounds, and feels just like its Old Italian counterpart.

Florian Leonhard has appeared on BBC,[3] CNBC,[4] and in the Economist,[5] on subjects relating to investment in instruments[6][7][8] and their preservation. He was a jury member at the Benjamin Britten, Karol Lipinski, Henryk Wieniawsky and George Enescu violin competitions.. He was on the jury of the 2012 Israeli Music Competition & Ernest Bloch Music Competition.[9] A regular contributor to books and articles and having published his book, The Makers of Central Italy. Florian is also President of the Pisogne Making Competition in Cremona.

Publications

  • Makers of Central Italy - Marche and Umbria, Fantigrafica 2011; ISBN 978-88-906383-1-2[10]
  • Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Bocholt 1998; ISBN 3-00-002088-8 (with Stefan-Peter Greiner)

References

  1. ↑ The world of violin maker Florian Leonhard By Ellie Pithers 04 Apr 2014 in The Telegraph
  2. ↑ Your Menuhin Winners: Fukuda, Waarts take first in young violinist competition - Arts - The Austin Chronicle
  3. ↑ Florian Leonhard speaks on BBC News on YouTube
  4. ↑ Alternative Investing - Violins 07 DEC 2010
  5. ↑ From tree to concert hall: The sweet sound of nightingales | The Economist
  6. ↑ Trader sees profit in violinists playing beyond their means, Business section of The Guardian, Simon Bowers, 25 March 2008
  7. ↑ Campbell, R. A. J. "Fine violins as an alternative investment: Strings attached?." Pensions: An International Journal 13.1 (2008): 89-96.
  8. ↑ The Stradivarius Hedge: Investors Look to High-End Violins - TIME
  9. ↑ 2012 Jury of Israeli Music Competition & Ernest Bloch Music Competition
  10. ↑ The Makers of Central Italy: A new book by a noted violin maker and dealer covers an under-appreciated region of Italy. By Greg Olwell posted March 2012
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