Davide Sora

October 22, 2016 at 09:18 AM · Hello everyone, this is my first time on this forum, so first of all I would like to to greet everyone.

Browsing the web I found this old post asking information about me.

Saidjah, are you still here?

I would be interested to know more about your viola, to be able to update my archive and maybe get very useful information for me about how she behaved over the years.

If you could send me some pictures to allow me identify it I would be very grateful.

However, if you have not already done so in all these years past, you can find some information about me and my work on my websites :

www.davidesora.it

www.davidesora.altervista.org

Ciao

Davide

October 22, 2016 at 10:20 AM · Glad to see you here Mr. Sora. Love your videos on YouTube, especially the one that shows you carving a scroll.

October 22, 2016 at 10:35 AM · Hello Jeff, nice to meet you even on this site, thank you for your appreciation of my videos

October 22, 2016 at 02:34 PM · I was just about to post that I had heard about Davide Sora when, behold, the man himself posted.

After one of those Italian "Triennale" exhibitions (2000, 2003 ??) I asked a Cremona maker I know who was the Italian maker with the highest ranking and the reply was .... "Davide Sora".

Might have asked Davide for a price a few years ago. I think his 2010 workshop price for a violin was €15k. Retail price at a dealership would need to be higher. But I didn't follow up - I own enough violins now from Cremona ....!

[EDIT] Further research :- In the "X Triennale .." 2003 Davide Sora's violin was "Terzo premio violino" & he gained "Medaglio d'argento e diploma d'onore". In 2006 a violin of his was "Secondo premio violino".

October 22, 2016 at 05:40 PM · Hi David,

thank you for your kindness.

I hope you will sell some of your bad Cremonese violins, so maybe you'll come back and buy other better.

I'm just kidding, of course..... :-)

October 22, 2016 at 06:16 PM · wow, the scrolls are beautiful!

October 23, 2016 at 03:20 PM · I have to agree that the scroll carving video was mesmerizing. Beautiful work!

October 23, 2016 at 10:03 PM · As I am also a member on Maestronet last year someone said that everyone just had to see Davide Sora carving a scroll on YouTube, and it was so neat to see, he constantly turns the entire scroll in a circular motion as he makes little clean cuts with gouges. Just perfect effortless looking work. Thank you David Beck for your info on his awards.

Don Noon also recently won an award for best sounding violin.

October 23, 2016 at 11:00 PM · Thank you all for the kind words.

Also I am a "fan" of Don Noon and its very direct and

straightforward way to convey difficult scientific concepts to us simple luthiers.

Congrats to him for the awards he has received, are certainly deserved

October 24, 2016 at 03:17 AM · Ciao Davide, cheers from your old friend and classmate Dimitri, currently on the road on the Central Coast of California!

October 24, 2016 at 04:52 PM · Ciao Dimitri, nice to meet you here!!

Here in Cremona it's raining by some days, I die of envy for you in the California sun.

But you will go home sooner or later, to enjoy the autumn weather of Cremona......;-)

Good times those at the school of violin making, unforgettable.

October 25, 2016 at 09:25 AM · Curious ?? Anyone in the UK interested in seeing, and trying, a Davide Sora viola might like to go to an exhibition in London of new Italian violas by some 40 makers. This will run from 1st. November through to the 20th.

http://bishopstrings.com/exhibitions/italian-violas/

BTW on violinist.com we get many intelligent contributions from a top American maker, David Burgess. I hope for more from Italian makers ....

October 25, 2016 at 03:25 PM · Thanks for advertising, David ;-)

PS Do more than David burgess is a very daunting task, I do not know if I have the physical strength....

February 24, 2017 at 09:45 PM · When I last visited Cremona in May 2016, I asked a friend of mine there, who herself is a very good violin maker and won a gold medal in the Italian national competition in 2008, to name a few top makers in Cremona. The first one on her list is Davide Sora. Right after I returned to the US, I emailed Davide and ordered a violin from him. I have to patiently wait until September of 2018 to see my violin :-) But I'm very much looking forward to it.

Davide Sora's achievements at the Triennale violin making competition in Cremona are incredible! Silver medal for a viola in 1991 (no gold medal awarded for viola), third prize for a violin in 2003, silver medal for a violin in 2006 (no gold medal awarded for violin, Davide was actually tied the first place with Markus Klimke), third prize and highest prize for acoustic quality for a violin in 2015 (no gold medal awarded for violin). I actually have the scores, and Davide's violin score for tone quality is very high. You can find some very big names on the 2015 winner's list here: http://www.thestrad.com/viola-wins-only-gold-medal-at-2015-cremona-triennale-instrument-making-competition/

February 25, 2017 at 04:48 AM · Kevin,

2018??? It took him 15 minutes to carve that scroll. You shouldn't have to wait that long ;)

February 27, 2017 at 10:56 PM · Good question for Davide :-) But I guess the other parts take much longer to carve than the scroll. One can't finish carving a scroll in 15 minutes, can he?

February 28, 2017 at 07:27 PM · Hi Kevin :)

I was being sarcastic about the 15 minutes (the video is is cut to make it faster)....now I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic about the 15 minutes...so now i'm confused haha.

In any case. Davide should get on your violin. Alas good craftsmanship takes time.

February 28, 2017 at 08:06 PM · I imagine Mr. Sora has a pretty long waiting list. That's what takes time. A friend ordered a guitar to be built by a famous Spanish builder in 1972 and received it right on schedule in 1986!

March 1, 2017 at 12:58 AM · What-- no drive-through service?

"Late Del Gesu, hold the antiquing. And throw in the fast-action fingerboard."

March 1, 2017 at 04:14 AM · I know it's crass to ask and no one need answer, but I've fallen for Mr. Sora's instruments and would like to know a ballpark for price. Mostly at this point so I know what size jar to buy. Thanks.

Stephen, were there only a dollar menu for fine instruments, the world would be out of wood.

March 7, 2017 at 11:28 PM · @ Kevin Zhang :

Hi Kevin,

are you still planning to come to Cremona this September?

I'm not sure yet, but I would like try to make your violin in time for the end of this year, maybe for the end of September if you're coming.

However I have not yet started to make it, so at the moment it's just an intention.....

@ Kevin Henderson :

I do not like to use these forums for commercial purposes, but if you send me an email of course the price is not a secret and I can tell you, although currently my waiting list is up to 2020.

@ John Mac :

When I'm in the spotlight of the movie I become a super hero and I only need 15 minutes to make the scroll, but when I go back into my human form, I need about thirty hours for the scroll excluding the neck and the fingerboard..... :-)

March 11, 2017 at 06:14 AM · Hi Davide,

Yes, I'm still planning to visit Cremona at the end of September. I've been waiting for a good deal to purchase the airplane ticket. I'll talk to you more through email later.

Cheers!

Kevin

March 11, 2017 at 02:50 PM · What a wonderful trip to look forward to!