1 mins
MY SPACE A peek into lutherie workshops around the world
LUTHIER DAVID SEGAL
LOCATION New York, NY, US
Igraduated from the Cremona School of Violin Making in 1972 and then worked with Simone Fernando Sacconi, who invited me to New York a year later to work at Rembert Wurlitzer’s shop. That closed down in 1974 and I started my own business. I’ve had three different workshops since then, and since 1986 I’ve been based on West 68th Street. It’s close to Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera House and the Juilliard School, which makes it very convenient for musicians and students to come over. It’s happened that members of the New York Philharmonic have knocked on my door in a panic, when they’ve left their instrument at home and need to borrow one from me!
It’s not a huge space, about 80 sq m, and divided into a small workshop and a room for testing instruments. Everything I do here is repair work and restoration; I make new instruments at home, where I can focus specifically on the task at hand. I admire any luthier who can work on a new violin and carry out day-to-day work simultaneously.
I spent 13 months away from the workshop during the Covid pandemic, apart from dropping in to pick up an instrument for repair. It was a strange time, as violin makers need to meet their customers, inspect their instruments and find out what they want; unlike so many other professions, it can’t all be done on Zoom! Our shop manager Diane, who’s been with me since 1981, was very busy during that time, keeping the business going in my absence. I’ve also had an assistant, Hideo Nagai, working with me in the shop since 2010. He’s another graduate of the Cremona School and mostly works on restorations.
My workshop is filled with all kinds of instrument parts, varnish ingredients and woods of different ages and grains. Having the right supplies is absolutely essential when it comes to successful restorations.