2016. 05. 15
Hungarian makers won 3 medals
This was the first International Bowmaking Competition named after “Maestro GIOVANNI LUCCHI”. There were only violin bows in the competition. The bows were judged by bowmakers Pietro Cavalazzi and Adriano Massari and by the violinist Luigi Mazza. András Nagy won the...
2016. 05. 11
Three awards went to Hungary
This was the second Chinese competition, which also allowed the participation of bows. The members of the a first class jury were Stéphan Thomachot from France, Klaus Grünke from Germany and Tim Baker from Great Britain.
2016. 05. 07
The 1st International "Darling" Bowmaking Competition
The award ceromony of the 1st Darling International Bowmaking Competition took place in Amsterdam on the 7th of May. Below are the winners of the Workmanship Awards
Alexandre Aumont
-The Tibor Kovacs-Grand Prix for Cello Bow
Emmanuel Bégin
– The Tibor Kovacs-Grand Prix for Violin Bow
– The...
2016. 04. 20
Károly Péteri could hand over his bow to us only on the day of the opening ceremony in the last minute, so we didn’t have time to take detailed photos of it. I only had the chance to take this quick shot in the museum with Tamás Sziráki. The bow moved into its showcase after the opening at eight o’...
2016. 04. 19
Some photos of the conference and the opening ceremony taken by Balázs Gollob.
2016. április 14.
György Ács and his son Bálint Ács made this nice short film. Thank you very much.
2016. 04. 13
I asked my colleague, Tamás Sziráki to make three photo collages of bow heads, frogs and adjusters so that different styles of makers can be demonstrated here.
2016. marcius 17.
My friend, Joachim Sinus Dennemann took a series of photos in the summer of 2014 in my workshop in Göd.
2016. marcius 16.
Bows from the Reményi catalogue
Mihály György sent us some photos from the Reményi catalogue. Wide selection of bows were available at Reményi’s.
2016. március 15.
Budapest I. district, Táncsics Mihály street 7.
All bow enthusiasts and everybody interested are warmly welcome!
2016. marcius 12.
Bow head reparation
Here we can see the tool Attila uses to drill the place of the tapping to repair a broken head
2016. marcius 11.
Bow construction
The following photos introduce the phases of bow making methods used by Attila Szitha .
2016. marcius 10.
Hairing
The following photos introduce the phases of bow hairing methods used by Attila Szitha .
2016. marcius 09.
The most beautiful planes of the world
Attila Szitha sent us some beautiful photos from Milan. These will be presented in the next couple of days.
2016. marcius 08.
Bow photos by Péter Benedek
A violin bow stamped by Károly Ferenczy-Tomasowsky. The shape of the head is elongated, on the backside there is no chamfer but it is round instead. We call this model ’swan head’ or ’swan neck’. The very long adjuster is also a special feature.
2016. marcius 07.
STERNBERG violin bow
Ármin Sternberg set up his business at the end of the 19th century. Later his sons, Árpád and Ferenc took over the business. The Stenbergs were mainly traders of musical instruments, but they were also involved in construction and reparation. The company existed until 1949. A bow stamped by them...
2016. marcius 06.
Károly Ferenczy-Tomasowsky violin bow
Péter Benedek, violin making master and expert living and working in Munich sent us some charming photos of Hungarian bows. The first one is a violin bow stamped by Károly Ferenczy-Tomasowsky.
2016. marcius 05.
This is a bow made by Mihály Bodák. He worked in the 1930s in Detroit.
2016. marcius 05.
Hungarian bow maker living in the Netherlands
LÁSZLÓ TUCSNI
1948 - Born in Szekszárd.
1962-1966 - Violin student at the Music Conservatory in Pécs. Teacher: Mathild Grév.
1967-1970 - Continued violin studies at the Music Academy, faculty in Pécs. Teacher: Henrik Botvay.
1970 - Gained his degree, then worked in Yugoslavia for a year.
1971-2008...
2016. marcius 04.
This is the second bow by Antal Klier from the Molnár Collection. It is very similar to its ’brother’, it was almost in a ’virgin’ state without any damage when we took photos of it. The stick is made of pernambucco, the frog is of ebony with silver settings. The head is a bit unique, the special...
2016. marcius 02.
This viola bow was made by istván Havas around 1910.The stick is made of pernambuco, the frog of ebony with nickelsilver.
2016. marcius 01.
This is a violin bow stamped by Mihály Reményi in Budapest. The model of the frog is quite similar to the cello frog exhibited.
2016. február 29.
This fine violin bow was made around 1900. The head and the elegant, classical frog are the works of an experienced master.
2016. február 28.
This violin bow was stamped by Miksa Frirsz around 1920. Most likely to be made in a German workshop.
2016. február 27.
p>This beautiful violin bow was stamped by János Riedl, most likely to be made around the 1890s. The relatively strong characteristic head and the elegant, classical frog are the works of an experienced master.
2016. február 26.
GÉZA MOLNÁR
Géza Molnár was born in a well-off family, which lost its wealth during the deprivatization period. He was the violist of the State Operetta Theatre and at the same time established the most significant private collection of musical instruments and bows of the Kádár era. He was a jolly...
2016. február 10.
JOSEPH KUN 1930-1996
1930 – Born in Kassa.
1948-1953 - Learnt violin and bow making from Vladimir Prybil.
1956 – Gained his musical degree as a violinist..
1953-1968 – Part-time violin and bow maker while also working as a violin teacher of the Czech State Conservatory.
1968 – Emmigrated to Canada...
2016. február 8.
TAMÁS SZIRÁKI
1966 – Born in Budapest.
1985 – Completed his secondary education at Mihály Táncsics Secondary School.
1987 – Vocational certificate as a home appliance repair technician.
1987-1989 – Military service.
1989-1991 – Cleaner, delivery-man at the National Institute of Oncology.
1991-1995...
2016. február 7.
KÁROLY PÉTERI
1955 – Born in Debrecen.
1974 – Finished his secondary education.
1976 – He gained his certificate as a watchmaker, in 1980 as an electrotechnican and in 1982 as an electrical mechanic.
Beginning of 1980s – Started making violins alongside his full-time job.
1982-1989 – Improved his...
2016. február 6.
LÁSZLÓ VÁRADY-SZABÓ
1975 – Accomplished his secondary education as a double bass student at the Zoltán Kodály Conservatory in Debrecen.
1978 – Qualified as a Double Bass Teacher at the Franz Liszt Music College in Debrecen.
1976 – Double bass player of the MÁV Philharmonic Orchestra in Debrecen,...
2016. február 5.
GOLLOB BALÁZS
1971 – Born in Budapest.
1989 – Studied plucked and bowed musical instrument making at Gyula Kaesz Vocational School of Woodworking.
1991 – Gained his professional certificate. Masters: Károly Bősz, Pál Sáránszky.
1991-1992 – Student at the Hungarian College of Applied Arts.
1993-1995...
2016. február 4.
GÁBOR FODOR
1976 - Born in Budapest.
1996-1999 - Learnt woodwind instrument making in the workshop of Attila Szabó and Zoltán Csernai in the SONUS musical instrument shop.
1999(Sept)-2000 - Learnt bow making in the Etzler workshop in Göd.
2001 - Worked as a bow maker in Tamás Guminár’s violin...
2016. február 2.
PAUL SADKA
1966 - Born in Buckingham,UK.
1991-1994 - Trained as a professional cellist at the Trinity College of Music, London and completed photography studies at the same time.
1994-1995 - Learnt bow making from Noel Burke in Ireland then continued his studies in Cremona.
1996-1998 - Worked in...
2015. december 21.
TIBOR KOVÁCS
1980 - Born in Bratislava. Following the traditions of his musician family he learnt to play the violin and ever since he has been passionate about this instrument. He spent most of his childhood in Spain.
1996 - Started his studies at the International Violin Making School in Cremona...
2015. december 20.
PÉTER DARÓCZI
1934 – Born in Szeged.
1953 – Started working for the Musical Instrument Factory in Szeged, learnt violinmaking under the supervision of Lajos and Miklós Sebők.
1957 – btained his vocational qualification.
1982 – Started running his own workshop on Hunyadi János sugárút while still...
2015. december 19.
BERND ETZLER
1964 - Born in Emsbüren, Germany.
1986-1988 - Studied in the violin making workshop of the Franz Liszt Music Academy under the supervision of Ferenc Kőrösi.
1988-1992 - Worked as an assistant at the same place.
1989 - Made his first bows with the guidance of Géza Sáli.
1991-1996 -...
2015. december 18.
TAMÁS FERENCZ
1974 - Born in Sfântu Gheorghe, Sepsziszentgyörgy, Romania.
1994 - Accomplished his studies at the Sándor Plugor Art Lyceum, faculty of music. During his studies he already had attempts at musical instrument making, finally set up a kobza making workshop.
2003 - Moved to Hungary after...
2015. december 17.
ISTVÁN KÓNYA JR. / STEFANO CONIA
1946 – Born in Felsőgalla.
1968 – Travelled to Italy with his first violin made under his father’s supervision and started his studies at the International Violin Making School in Cremona. Masters: Gio Batta Morassi and Pietro Sgarabotto. After completing his...
2015. december 16.
SÁNDOR RADICS
1951 – Born in Kartal.
1969 – Accomplished his secondary education as a double bass student at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest.
1969-1990 – Worked as a musician.
1981-1985 – Studied bow making from József Horváth.
1985 – Started producing bows in Budapest.
1992 – Rented a...
2015. december 15.
PÉTER IVÁNYI
1977 - Born in Nyíregyháza.
1981 - Started his musical studies playing the violin.
1983 - Attended the Musical Primary School in Nyíregyháza. He sang in several choirs and played in student orchestras. His teachers included Dénes Szabó, Kossuth and Liszt Prize awarded music educator...
2015. december 14.
ATTILA SZITHA
1955 – Born in Karcag.
Started playing the piano at the age of four and the cello at the age of six.
Completed his secondary school studies at the Zoltán Kodály Conservatory in Debrecen.
2015. december 10.
On Saturday we took our collection to our collegue Gábor Horváth living in Bátonyterenye. He is taking detailed photographs of the bows. Thank you, Gábor!
2015. december 9.
RUDOLF RIGÓ
1949 – Born in Budapest.
1960s – Played the double bass in the Rajkó Orchestra supporting young talents.
1992 – Learnt bow making from Sándor Radics in his workshop in Sashalom.
1992-1993 – Continued his studies with József Horváth.
Until his death in 2001 he was a productive bow maker...
2015. december 8.
KÁROLY GÁSPÁR
1973 - Born in Budapest.
1992 - Learnt violin making from Károly Tóth and bow making from Sándor Radics in their workshop in Sashalom.
1993 (From second half) - Spent nine months working for Josef Fedra in Hague.
1994 - Gained his diploma while working for Alexander Miholics in...
2015. december 6.
LÁSZLÓ LAKATOS
1962 - Born in Szabadka.
1982 - Started making musical instruments.
1982-1992 - Regularly consulted with Lajos Dudás, musical instrument maker in Szabadka.
1992-1996 - Worked for Accord workshop in Budapest lead by István Bogsütz and László Juharos. Colleagues:Judith Moser and László...
2015. december 3.
Klaus Grünke is not only an excellent bow maker, but he is also one of the most important experts on German bow making and co-author of the book "GERMAN BOW MAKERS".
2015. december 2.
Péter Benedek is the author of the book "Ungarischer Geigenbau, München, 1997"("Hungarian Violinmaking"), the most important work on this subject.
2015. november 29.
GÉZA SÁLI
1960 ‒ Born in Mezőhegyes.
1978-1980 – Learnt violin making under the supervision of Ferenc Lakatos in the workshop of the Franz Liszt Music Academy following twelve years of violin playing and completing his secondary education
1981 – Made his first bows (then Baroque)
1985 – Obtained...
2015. november 28.
ANDRÁS NAGY
1974 - Born in Miskolc.
1989-1993 - Accomplished his secondary education as a violin student at the Béla Bartók Music Conservatory in Miskolc.
1993-1995 - Completed his studies of stringed and plucked musical instrument making and restoring at the Musical Instrument Making School of the...
2015. november 26.
ISTVÁN KÓNYA sr 1919-1999
He studied photography from 1943. He got his master’s certificate of photography and opened his studio. From the age of thirteen he made attempts to make violins but he was 44 in 1964 when he decided to go to Cremona and learn the profession. He spent four years there. In...
2015. november 25.
LAJOS KÓNYA
1948 – Born in Tatabánya. Learnt both violin making and photography from his father.
1968~ Took up wood carving, then constructed folk music instruments. Being encouraged by his father he started to work with stringed instruments.
1969 – Opened his studio.
1981 – Gained his vocational...
2015. november 24.
I visited Károly Gáspár in his workshop in Budapest to make the interview for his biography and he told me that violinmaker István Schneider also made bows.
ISTVÁN SCHNEIDER
1943 – Born in Várpalota.
1960 – Started working for HANGSZÖV in Budapest as a trained worker. Also studied brass instrument...
2015. november 22.
JÁNOS MARTIN
1961 - Born in Budapest.
1983-1987 - Studied at the International Violin Making School in Cremona, IPIALL. Masters: Giorgio Scolari, Claudio Amighetti
1987-1989 - Took a master course of bow making at the evening school of C.F.P. Regione Lombardia di Cremona under the supervision of...
2015. november 20.
JÁNOS LAKATOS
1950 – Born in Egerszalók.
1965-1966 – Accomplished his secondary education at the music faculty of Géza Gárdonyi Secondary School in Eger.
1967 – Worked as a musician together with his father in Mezőkövesd.
1968 – Musician in Budapest.
1969-1970 – Studied clarinet folk music in the...
2015. november 18.
JÓZSEF HORVÁTH
1948 – Born in Budapest.
1962-1966 – Violin student of Mrs Szipornapszky at the Béla Bartók Music Conservatory in Budapest.
1966-1993 – Worked as a professional violin player.
1971-1972, 1975-1976, 1978-1979 – Spent a year in József Kun’s workshop in Ottawa where he learnt bow making...
2015. november 17.
Ottawa 1979
This photo shows Dezső Horváth and József Horváth in the Kun workshop in Ottawa in 1979.
DEZSŐ HORVÁTH (1946-)
1946 – Born in Gönc.
1951 – Started playing the violin.
1957 – Transferred to cymbalo playing.
1978 – Visited Ottawa with the orchestra of József Horváth.
January 1979 – Visited József Kun...
