Navigating history and destiny through craft
- Alfredo makes and restores lutes and classical and historical string instruments
- His practice combines research, technique and teaching
- He collaborates internationally with institutions on cultural heritage conservation
Alfredo Lerma is a luthier and historical guitar maker, whose meticulous work bridges architecture, history and sound. He studied naval technical mechanics in 1998 in Buenos Aires, resisting the pressure to inherit his father and grandfather’s profession as tool and dye manufacturers for the automotive industry in Argentina. Years later, a serendipitous encounter at an antique shop with what he believed was an authentic Stradivarius violin, led him to study and apprentice in instrument restoration in 2007. Alfredo has pursued an unrelenting path of study and has practised the art of violin making as a self-taught artisan, working and training with masters from the School of Arts in Tucumán, Argentina, as well as Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. His mastery reflects the precision inherited from his family’s tradition of fine dye making, his training in engineering and a deep curiosity for musical heritage.
Interview
- How did your career as a luthier evolve towards historical instruments?
- My encounter with historical lutherie in 2012 opened a path towards grants and the research of Baroque and Renaissance guitars. I won the 2017 National Arts Fund Argentina prize for classical guitar research, and the 2023 FEFCA-MEC Uruguay scholarship to build a Renaissance guitar. Today, I am in the final stages of publishing a research study on the organology of medieval guitars.
- What do people commonly seek from you as a luthier?
- Most people come to me for setups, adjustments and historical instrument reproductions. I also offer courses and workshop sessions in which anyone can learn to repair and tune instruments without specialised tools. For more advanced apprentices, I teach how to prepare traditional varnish formulas using organic ingredients found in local markets, just as it was done centuries ago.
- What projects lie ahead for you?
- I want to continue applying for grants to further my research, eventually covering 500 years of guitar making history starting from the 15th century. I may also extend it to the Greco-Roman and Egyptian periods. I am already in contact with colleagues who are finding instruments in their original state – over 5,000 years old – within the pyramids of Egypt.
- As a craftsman, what have you discovered along the years?
- This journey has been a sum of seemingly unrelated experiences to find my calling on my own terms. Today, I find myself working with meticulous precision and dedicated care for my tools, as did my father and grandfather. I have also discovered a sensitivity to the beauty in music and art as a prime form of inspiration.
Alfredo Lerma is a master artisan: he began his career in 2007 and he started teaching in 2012
Where
Alfredo Lerma
