ABOUT ME

I was born in Vic in 1953, and will always belong to that town, although I have been living in Barcelona since I was a child. One Sunday morning, when I was 7 or 8 I accompanied my father to visit a luthier workshop. I cannot recall why we went there or where exactly it was. However, I remember with crystal clarity the sunlight coming in through the window, the instruments hanging and piled up, the sound of the violoncello they were testing and, above all, the unmistakable smell that has been with me ever since. Today I am pretty sure that special atmosphere influenced a great deal of what I wanted, what I have done, what I am. I studied violin and viola at the Conservatori of Barcelona. Xavier Turull was my teacher my last years of studying. Listening to his Guadagnini provided me to distinguish the qualitative attributes in the sonority of instruments. Little by little I learnt I was interested in playing the instrument. Yet, I felt even more interested in the instrument, which I consider as being alive. I would spend more time watching than playing it, and I never took it seriously to become a professional player. More and more I wanted to learn about musical pedagogy, the artist's personality, the player's software, the creative act, the perception and attributes of sound, the dinamogenic effects of music, ... And I took a degree in Clinical Psychology for the University of Barcelona. One day in 1985 I received a phone call from a friend of mine. One of his relatives had died, and among his belongings there was a violin. My friend wanted to know whether the violin was of quality or in good condition. I took it home. It was evident that it had been kept in its case for many years. Its catgut strips were completely torn. It had been made by a luthier from Paris in the middle of the XVII th century. I looked up his name in every dictionary of luthiers, in every available publication, I asked everybody, ... I found nothing, which fascinated me. It was not its age, nor its making or sonorous quality. Neither was its beauty or sound. What impressed me most was the miracle of surviving. That message I had received from a totally unknown French luthier gave me the clue, explained many things and rescued many sensations and emotions from long before. That day I understood what my outstanding business was. Soon afterwards I started to search. For the first time I travelled to Cremona, I set up my own workshop, I began trying varnishes and making instruments. I am lucky to live and work in the very centre of the Eixample in Barcelona. I completely identify myself with its spirit. The passion for detail, the sensuality of shapes and its asymmetrical concept of perfection and beauty have also been my teachers. As a luthier my efforts are focused in the making of the violin and the viola. They are the instruments that I can imagine, make and play. I may test them in all registers, which is important to me. My studies in the scientific method gives me elements to sort the wheat from the chaff, and avoid the esoteric explanations for phenomena totally understandable through mechanics, acoustics and manufacturing/construction techniques. This scientific approach, however, does not make me vary the belief that violins have a soul . And that this soul has much to do with the people that made them and helped them grow up.