Specializations
Violins, violas, cellos, Restoration and repair, Evaluations, Baroque instruments, Apprentice instruments

Violinmaking, for Stefano Conia, is an intense passion which grew as he matured from a child to an adult. To him it means culture, the tradition of an art which has been learned through study but is also full of more personal and valuable knowledge.

His devotion and experience to violinmaking have deep roots which can be traced back to the middle of the last century when Stefano’s grandfather, Istvan Konya, began making violins in Tata, Hungary.

From there they continue on through his father, a well-respected maker and restorer of stringed instruments. From his father, Stefano learned the basics of the trade while improving his own violin-playing techniques, thanks to brief lessons taught him by famous musicians who visited the workshop.

 

In 1987, at the age of only 14, Stefano made his first violin. In the years that followed he studied at the Cremona International Violin School and did so well that he obtained the Walter Stauffer Foundation scholarship.

At the same time he took part in major competitions and was awarded prizes and commendations at international events at Bagnacavallo, Baveno and the prestigious “Triennial” in Cremona.

In 1994, Stefano judged himself ready to face the task of working independently as a violinmaker and so left his father’s workshop and opened his own, with the Villa brothers, on a side street behind the Cathedral of Cremona.

The instruments of Stefano Conia, which are appreciated by musicians of international fame, are especially noted for their excellent workmanship, the perfect balance of shapes and geometry, and the careful research of materials, similarly the elegant veining on the base and sides, embellished by a warm golden orange-brown varnish.

Excellent acoustic expansion and the penetration of a clear, powerful and balanced sound, across the whole range and extraordinary quickness to produce sound heighten the noble lavish character of these instruments.