BLAZ DEMSAR

Prof. VILIM DEMŠAR was born in 1937 at Ljubljana in the family of a wellknown master violin maker BLAŽ DEMŠAR (1903-1981). He was first apprenticed to his father before the age of 14. He passed his apprentice exam in violin making and at the same time studied violin and viola at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. After having finished his studies, he gave lessons as violin teacher and played viola in various professional orchestras.
During all this time, he improved his knowledge through assiduous study and research of violin making, so that in 1981 he obtained the status of an artist master violin maker.
The craftsmanship of violin making involves a highly complicated and thorough study of all stringed instruments, knowledge of playing these instruments, manual skills, understanding of building materials, thorough study of acoustics, continuous improvement in hearing the sound and, finally, the formation of the i sound of a stringed instrument, together with the functional and aesthetic shaping of all its parts.
A violin maker must never forget that he is creating each instrument for many generations to come, for the success of many violinists, violists and cellists, even for more than 300 years of the active life of a stringed instrument.