Lecture by Florian Leonhard

Violin Expert & Violin Maker
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Florian Leonhard MBE has dedicated his life to studying, restoring and making violins. After studying at Mittenwald he worked for W.E. Hill & Sons, becoming Head Restorer, and held similar positions at other workshops before starting his own company in 1995. Today he leads his own 12-strong team specialising in authentication, valuation and restoration of fine violins, violas and cellos. Informed by 30 years of research, Florian launched his own bench copy ‘true copy’ instruments in 2010 which are now sought after for their acoustic and visual closeness to the originals, based on Florian’s outstanding experience in restoring and authenticating the finest examples of Italian violins. He is an active researcher, contributing to books and articles including his own publications, The Makers of Central Italy and The Makers of Tuscany. He is currently working on two publications researching the instruments of Guarneri del Gesù and the Bisiach family.

Regularly called upon as a jury member for international violin competitions, Florian is the President of the Pisogne Making Competition in Cremona, and a jury member of the Tonali Competition, Lipinski Competition, Schöntal Competition, and the Leopold Mozart Competition. He has also been invited to deliver speeches and lectures, in places including the Hannover Competition, Kronberg Academy, and the Duino masterclass. He has also appeared at the Mondomusica Music Fair for over 20 years, exhibiting outstanding Italian instruments, and given many lectures.

Florian Leonhard Fine Violins of London and Seoul deals in the finest instruments and consults many of the leading soloists and orchestras worldwide, including violinists Anne Sophie Mutter, Daniel Hope, Leonidas Kavakos, Maxim Vengerov, Alina Ibragimova, Uto Ughi, and cellists Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Leonard Elschenbroich.

Described by The TELEGRAPH as "The world's leading expert" in fine violins, Florian's philosophy is shown in his life-long passion for fine instruments and the music that they help to create. He extends the same care to talented and promising young musicians, nurturing their careers with as much attention as he has for their instruments, by sponsoring competitions and regularly lending instruments from his own collection. With such leadership, Florian Leonhard Fine Violins is set to remain one of the world class restorers and dealers of fine violins.

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