Ulrike Dederer

Luthier

©Michelangelo Foundation

The living art of violinmaking

Ulrike used to be a restorer of antique instruments
In 2012 she won the gold medal for viola in Cremona
She considers music to be a 'universal language'

Born in Germany but now based in Switzerland, Ulrike Dederer trained at the International Violin Making School in Cremona, the Italian centre of traditional violinmaking. Herself a cello player, she wanted to combine her love of music with manual woodworking skills. She now makes instruments that follow the designs of the old masters while producing a sound that serves the needs of today’s musicians. “Violinmaking is a living art, and my work is constantly evolving,” she says. “Musicians, colleagues and historical and scientific publications stimulate and influence my style. I try to introduce the present time and my personality into each instrument.”

Interview

©Michelangelo Foundation

©Michelangelo Foundation

How did your passion for violinmaking begin?: While touring with the youth orchestra of my hometown, we happened to visit the violinmaking school in Wales. That was my first close contact with the craft in 1984. I then started my training as a violinmaker in Cremona in 1989.
How many instruments do you make each year?: Usually I make four instruments a year. I work according to the classical method used by the Cremonese masters in the golden age of violinmaking. For varnishing I follow the Byzantine coating system, which was well known and applied in Italy since the Renaissance.
What are your sources of inspiration?: The great Cremonese masters Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri and their instruments are an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Every piece of wood is unique and needs to be modelled in its own way. It is the wood itself that guides my work.
What do you love most about what you do?: I love experiencing the wood and its qualities with all the senses: how it feels under my tools, how it vibrates when I tap it, how it smells when it’s cut… But it’s only at the very end of the making process, when fitting strings to the instrument, that I know if I got it right!

Ulrike Dederer is a master artisan: she began her career in 1993 and she started teaching in 2015