The Pistoia violin-making tradition continues and is renewed today in the workshop of Pietro Gargini, who, out of pure passion, put aside a degree in Architecture to successfully pursue the challenging yet incredibly fascinating profession of luthier. Born in Pistoia in 1980, Pietro Gargini made his first violin at the age of seventeen under the supervision of Mauro Scartabelli and Elder Maestro Guido Maraviglia. He then studied with the luthiers Luigi Ercoli and Gabriele Natali, and continued cooperating with them for a few years. He continued to expand and deepen his understanding in various aspects of construction, restoration and development along masters; Gabriele Negri, Lambert Houniet, Hans Nebel and Carlos Arcieri, whom he worked with at his New York workshop. In 2007, Maestro Gargini obtained his Masters Degree in Architecture from the University of Florence. In his graduation thesis; “Form and Music: The Mechanics of the Violin”, he investigated the family of strings quartet, observing the birth and development centuries ago until present day; analysis of forms, ratios and proportions; geometric and their implications on acoustic solutions; conceptual origin of the family of the string quartet as a coincidence of the search for “beauty as harmony of proportions” Renaissance Humanism. In 2008, he opened his own workshop and was a member of the Associazione Liuteria Toscana from 2008 to 2012. Currently, in Pistoia, his workshop is located in the historical center. Maestro Pietro Gargini spilts his time between restoration work and construction of new instruments.
