seminars
in slovenia
Course of “liuteria” on the construction of the lute and the maintenance of the instruments of the lute’s family held from 14 to 18 March 2011 at the “Julij Slatkonja” Conservatory in Novo mesto (Slovenia) by SILVIA ZANCHI, master in making and restoring plucked instruments from the Municipal School of Music in Milan (Scuola Civica di Liuteria di Milano).
Themes:
§
Construction of the lute:
finishing of an half-worked instrument
§
Practical exercises on
demonstration parts
§
Mounting of the lute (nut,
strings, laces)
§
Maintenance of the instrument:
cleaning, change of strings and laces, lubrication of tuning pegs, tune-up
Monday, 14 March – Friday,
18 March:
Conservatory J. Slatkonia of Novo mesto
From 9 to
Constrution and restoring of plucked instruments of the ancient music -Classic guitars
Silvia
Zanchi was born in
After having achieved the Art
Diploma in the field of preservation and cataloging of the Cultural assets
(at the state senior high school specializing in artistic education in
2004 she obtained her diploma with
full marks in the construction of plucked instrument under the guide of the
masters Tiziano Rizzi, Lorenzo Lippi and Aldo Illotta.
In the following year she attended
the course of specialization in restoring of instruments under the guide of
Gabriele Negri, obtaining her diploma with full marks.
She is collaborating with the
master Lorenzo Frignani from
In the school year 2006/2007 she
was teacher of construction of plucked instruments at the Municipal School
of Liuteria in
She published a series of
technical books titled “Gommalacca” (shellac varnish), in close
collaboration with Claudio Canevari.
The results of this work were
presented
-
in
-
in a Conference at the
-
at Mondomusica Fair in
-
at Eucherio Sanvitale Stadium in
the Ducal garden in
-
at the Zeppilli Thater in Pieve
di Cento with a contribute to the National Biennial Convention of liuteria
titled “L’importanza dell’editoria nel passaggio storico dell’esperienza” on
13th September 2008,
-
at Mondomusica Fair in
She is devoted to the construction
and restoring of the plucked instruments, in particular of classic guitars
for concerts and of copies of historical original instruments. Beside this
construction activity she works actively on research concerning the
construction techniques of historical instruments and the shellac varnishing
techniques.
Since 2006 Silvia Zanchi and
Claudio Canevari have dedicated theirselves to the study of shellac varnish.
From their work, they published
three books, the books of IROR, titled GOMMALACCA, published by
LF Edizioni of
Shell varnish has been a material
well known in the Western for thousands of years for several reasons.
Nevertheless it is used for the preparation of varnishes from relative brief
time: the first varnish known in
From that casual citation its use
increased more and more, and nowadays the tampon varnishing is broadly used
as finishing technique for wood fine objects and it is one of the main
techniques used in some liuteria sectors, despite the modern chemistry has
developed sintesi polymers of high quality and versatility. In this field it
is still used as component of various polyresinous varnishes with alcoholic
solvent.
The books published by Silvia
Zanchi and Claudio Canevari deal with various aspects of shellac varnish:
from the history of its utilization to its production and refining, to the
chemistry, to the varnishing techniques.
Civica Scuola di Liuteria di Milano
Municipal Stringed Instruments School in Milan
Historical aspects
The
first course of the Municipal Stringed Instruments School in Milan dates
back to 1978 when the Civica Scuola di Musica, the municipal school of
music, with the support of a private institution, set up open courses geared
to the restoration of antique musical instruments.
A workshop for stringed instruments was then opened in the old Milanese craftsmen's quarter of the Isola, where in a few square metres a group of students headed by architect Marco Tiella rediscovered a traditional craft, that of rebuilding old vielles,zithers, lyres, spinets and violas da gamba.
Since their origin, courses have been characterized by a harmonious balance between research and manual work. These course subsequently developed into the Civica Scuola di Liuteria (Municipal Stringed Instruments School), which is presently geared to a professional training approach.
Today the training of stringed instrument makers, builders and restorers of wooden musical instruments is still based on a close relationship, established during the school years, between student and teacher, which unfolds in a workshop and is further enhanced by a store of historical and musical knowledge and technical know-how.
The rediscovery of this ancient craft, using new technologies, by a work-group of teachers working together with cultural institutions, trade associations and experts active in this sector are the School's mainstays.
The school today
Co
urses at Milan's
Civica Scuola di Liuteria are subdivided into professional and refresher
courses, refresher workshops and non-professional courses for beginners and
non-professionals. Every year, nearly 70 students, both Italian and foreign,
attend the school.
The library and archives, containing drawings and photographic records, are open to the public. You will also find a collection of the major specialized journals on musical instruments, together with reliefs of original instruments both from various European museums and produced by the school itself.
Since its foundation, the School has always participated in many different external activities such as exhibitions, meetings and concerts organized in co-operation with prestigious cultural institutions and associations both in Italy and abroad.
Nowadays the Municipal School of musici is coordinated by Ms. Virginia Villa.
