First prize for Loiret crafts, he opens his violin making workshop to us in Orléans

See my news
Follow News Orléans

Ses twelve square meters workshop suits it very well. It's in its nest box, perched above the bars of rue de Bourgogne in Orléans (Loiret) that Laurent Zakowsky restored the piece which won him the first departmental prize for artistic crafts.

A prize awarded to him Monday December 9, 2024 with the presentation of a violin, restored after having been burned on both sides of the body.

A repair worthy of real surgery

“This is the first time I received an instrument in such an atypical state », admits the professional luthier. “We had to go through several grafts, cut out the damaged parts but above all keep the same wood. » And what wood! The violin has its whole history. Created at 18th centuryunder the label Louis Guersan a great personality in violin making at the time.

The luthier then begins a real diagnosis, wood grafts as one might do skin grafts. “A violin is very representative of a human body
or animal, there is its handle, its hearing, its feet, its heel, its ankles…” A surgical work which requires technical knowledge, but which does not come without its share of philosophy.

There are period writings which say that the violin is also a representation of the universe. Its back side represents the Earth, its front side the sky and in the middle, in the resonance box, it is the soul. The strings, once rubbed, ensure balance.

Mr. Zakowsky known for making violas

In addition to instrument restoration, the winning luthier also makes violas. Instruments made by his hand and already ordered by the Orléans conservatory or others in France . To date, over 200 have been sold.

But about ten years ago, the luthier launched another series of violas, far from being like the others. “A musician called me and told me about his pain when he played the viola, which is larger and heavier than a violin. Many viola players develop musculoskeletal pain besides,” he explains.

His solution: make violas with much less weight, but keeping the same wood, the same sound and the same solidity over time. Almost impossible mission: “I racked my brains by going to see physicists, ergonomists, chemists…
And finally, a totally physical solution allowed me to reduce 20% the weight of the instrument.» Could this be the viola of the future?

I'm not sure everyone uses this type of viola, it really met a specific request. But if this can help to change mentalities about physical pain in the orchestra environment, where we don't generally complain, I will already be very happy.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.