Rolling into Sofia Bulgaria: Spring 2010
Violin Maker Boris in Kanzalak, Bulgaria
The 2006 outreach emails turned up a pocket of violin makers in Bulgaria. We visited them then and again in 2010. They are centered in the small town of Kanzalak which is about an hour’s drive from the Country’s largest city, Sofia. We met several luthiers making violins in their small workshops, but the most interesting was Boris. He bought a forest, some several hundred acres of wood for violin making. We met him in his cold basement, huddled around the hearth of his fire place. He was the former manager at the violin making plant there in Kanzalak. It was Russian controlled until the breakup and then was bought by a private party. He left then and started the workshop style of violin making in his home. He organizes several makers that work in cooperation to build violins that students can afford. He supplies the materials and does the final check of every instrument. He has more violins than he has market for. He said he really needed to travel and find more buyers for them but he was in poor health. He had thousands of violins unvarnished stacked throughout his house! They were along the walls in his hallway, his bedroom, his living room! We very much enjoyed meeting him, his sons, his wife and he dogs. He doesn’t speak any English but we had a translator there with us. We still buy instruments from him.
Teras Rhapsodia Violin from the Master 1 Collection
Featured today is the Teras Rhapsodia violin from our Master 1 collection. A highly flamed golden orangish brown finish, is one of Boris’ premium violins. It features all ebony fittings, a beautiful one piece back, and a warm, sonorous tone. On sale through June 30th 2014 for $1295 normally $2,000.