Maurizio Bissolotti

Born in Castelleone (Cremona province), 25 November 1956.
Maurizio Bissolotti began frequenting his father's workshop as a child. He used to watch his father working and on these occasions he performed small roughing out jobs and some carving. He enrolled at the Cremona Violinmaking School in 1971, and graduated in 1975.
During his school years he assiduously frequented his father's workshop where he continued to improve his technique.
In 1973 he went to Philadelphia (USA) where he visited the workshop of the dealer and restorer Adolph Primavera with his brother Marco Vinicio. Adolph Primavera was the father of a school companion, Alfred. Here he had the opportunity of observing many different instruments and trained his eye to recognize old instruments.
After graduating he remained in his father's workshop for a few years where he continued to perfect his technique. From 1983 to 1984 he went to Salzburg to work for Winrich Sturies, an ex-student who had studied with his father in the Cremona school and who went on to specialize in restoration technique with Walter Hamma of Stuttgart. During this period he dedicated himself to setting up instruments and restoration, perfecting his skills in violin set-ups and in identifying antique instruments.
He remembers all of his school companions with fondness, particularly Ivano Conti, Primo Pistoni, Alfredo Primavera, the French maker Montagna and the Japanese maker Soeda Kagiru.
Maurizio Bissolotti has an extremely frank and direct manner, and makes high demands of himself and his students. He is extremely precise in the arching of the instrument, which is inspired by the classical Cremonese tradition. The cutting of the f-holes is very elegant and refined.
His work is decisive, clean and instinctive, and his combination of precision and speed is remarkable.
He makes all kinds of string instruments but he specializes in violins, violas, violoncellos and double basses, using his father's patterns for the Cremonese, Brescian and Milanese models. His favorite makers are Guarneri del Gesù and Camillo de Camilli for violins, Testore for violas, and Domenico Montagnana for violoncellos. He uses the same spirit varnish as his father; like his father he does not participate in exhibition or competitions.
He takes approximately one month to make an instrument and about two months to varnish it. He alternates moments of intense production with others spent more peacefully on acoustical and varnish research which he does together with his father.
A violinmaker of difficult character, he gives the best of himself when making his instruments.