Joseph Curtain, the Luthier Extraordinaire
Reported by Erik Smith
Web produced by Kelly Reynolds

Joseph works to recreate vintage violens from centuries past Video

He's learned from the long, silent hands of teachers four centuries old, from men known mostly by last names, names like Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari. The gentleman of Cremona, who gave the violin it's extraordinary voice in the 17th and early 18 centuries.

For Joseph Curtain of Ann Arbor, the allure of fine wood, the commanding detail of old world craftsmanship, the exotic chemistries of ancient varnishes, underscore his personal musical mission, a journey to define that mystical relationship between tone, resonance, response and artist, the search to separate the unique from the merely unusual.

Joseph Curtain

"Are tools as violin makers is really our hands, I mean you have to be able to use them. It's your mind, it's your imagination. It's your whole nervous system, your ears. You gotta tell what's going on," Joseph says.

By trade, he is a luthier, a maker of fine violins and violas, in the tradition, if not really the footsteps of the masters. He studied in their Italian homes at Cremona. He has precisely duplicated their finest surviving instruments, reviving their voices for the present and beyond.

"The first time I played a really great strat, it was a revelation. Wow, that's what they're talking about. It's' a completely different experience from playing the sort of instrument I was making then and had played as a student," Joseph recalls.

Joseph is determined to use new techniques to create vintage style violins

While he has all but recreated the appearance, feel, and even sound of the most cherished vintage violins, Joseph Curtain is determined to marry the elements of the 21st century with his craft. Science and technology are now partnering with the ancient masters at Cremona in an evolutionary time warp in the Curtain Studios.

"Why would anybody spend their life doing Michelangelo's David again and again? You'll never make his art work, you should make your own art work. That's what's going to make it valuable. And in terms of performance, it's a matter of understanding," says Joseph.

It is the work of the most delicate order. Painfully time consuming in detail, agonizingly slow by techo world standards, yet uncompromisingly rewarding when the notes soar from beneath the bow drawn across its delicate bridge. It is a sound heard around the world in symphonies and concert halls.

"You hear some terrific player playing your instrument, I'm on the edge of my seat. Somehow you're involved in the performance in the way you're not always if you're just listening," Joseph says.

Joseph considers his hands his tools when crafting a violin

No, he never made it to the concert stage himself, but now, wherever his striking instruments raise their distinctive voices, it might be said you are hearing the music of Joseph Curtain's heart as well.

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