A job that still awakens dreams
During the Christmas season with its numerous concerts, the violin makers have their hands full. In minute last instruments need to be adjusted or repaired.
Hélène Monziès and Kaspar Maurer work in the Rue de la Ferme in Geneva, where they have just moved with their violin workshop. The Atelier Maurer carries out the restoration, rental and sale of violins, violas and cellos as well as the maintenance of bows.
There is no shortage of work
Violin maker Monziès is expected to take over the shop as Kaspar Maurer is about to retire. They don’t rule out the idea of continuing instrument making. There is no shortage of work for the eight violin workshops in Geneva. The presence of two large orchestras, the Orchester de la Suisse Romande and the Orchester de Chambre, plays a major role in this.
These two renowned orchestras are joined by several amateur orchestras: “The milieu associated with the international organizations is very culture- and music-loving,” emphasizes Maurer. Not to be forgotten are the students at the conservatory and other music schools.
Violin makers are music lovers
Most violin makers who are also music lovers are first and foremost musicians: it’s only when you play an instrument that you understand how important the sound and the settings are,” explains Maurer, who is no exception in this regard. He attended courses at the Place Neuve Conservatory in Geneva for five years.
Since he was too old for the European violin making schools, the native of Biel then went to Salt Lake City in the USA for three years to be trained. In 1986 he opened his own shop in Geneva after initially working in a large workshop in Bremen, northern Germany.
Violin making school in Brienz
Born in France, Hélène Monziès began working in Maurer’s studio in 2006. She learned to play the violin from her grandfather. “He gave me my first violins, which he had made himself,” says the violin maker.
When she was 16, her music teacher asked her to take her instrument to a luthier. That was a revelation for the teenager. That day she decided to become a violin maker. Later she attended the only violin making school in Switzerland in Brienz in the canton of Bern.
Robots cannot do work
“Against the current of the united time” many young people are interested in this profession, but only two to three students a year leave Brienz with a degree,” says the 42-year-old. However, there are numerous schools in neighboring countries.
“We’re lucky because we work in an area where robots can hardly replace us,” Maurer continues. Highly developed machines are able to produce certain components, but pure craftsmanship is still required for the special work on each instrument. “It’s different every time” – he shows us a cello – “and a machine can’t do that”.
«Musicians and amateurs love these instruments, even if they are demanding and difficult to master. That’s what drives the passion for the game,” explains Maurer.
Like meditation
Making a violin is a meditation, a work on oneself. “And from a cognitive point of view, making a sound while reading a score places enormous demands on the brain,” he says. “The pandemic has not only led to people picking up books, but also to getting their instruments out of the closet,” said Monziès. As a result, we didn’t really feel the crisis when everything was shut down.”
The violin makers continue to play in amateur chamber orchestras. Maurer doesn’t have a favorite composer: “There’s always someone I’m working on,” he says. Monziès loves the Bach suites, but is currently playing in a completely different register: “Piazzolla in a small orchestra”.
Maurer dreams of completing two more instruments before he retires. “They’ve been waiting for me to finish them for over 20 years.” Retirement doesn’t scare him because he has many other plans: “I live in an eco-district where there’s a lot to do,” he said with a smile.