„Tradition is retention of the fire, not worship of the ashes“ – Gustav Mahler

Ulrike Dederer is an award-winning contemporary luthier. She began her violin making training at the International violin making school in Cremona/Italy under Vincenzo Bissolotti in 1989. She worked as a maker and restorer for over 12 years before opening her own workshop in Zürich/Switzerland in 2005. Her work is focused on making violins and violas in modern and baroque set-up.

Her making follows the tradition of Cremonese violin making. In 2012 she won gold medal for her viola at the competition “XIII. Concorso Triennale degli strumenti ad arco «Antonio Stradivari»” in Cremona – for the first time in the competition’s 36-year history the judges awarded a gold medal to a female maker. Subsequently she has been invited to serve as judge at the Henrik Wieniawski Violin Making Competiton in 2016 and at the VSA-Competition of the Violin Society of America in the categories viola, cello and quartet in 2018. In 2019 she was invited to teach Violin Varnishing in Cremona, organized by CremonaTools.

Her clients include the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the Trio Oreade, the Walter Fischli Foundation.

CV:

• • Born in Stuttgart/Germany 1969
  • 1989-93 International School for Violinmaking in Cremona/Italy with Vincenzo Bissolotti
  • 1989 Apprentice Examination (Gesellenprüfung) in Mittenwald/Germany
  • 1989-97 violin maker at Jecklin in Zürch/Switzerland
  • 1998-2005 violin maker and restorer at Machold Rare Violins in Vienna/Austria
  • 2002 Master Examination (Meisterprüfung) in Innsbruck/Austria
  • Since 2005 own workshop in Zürich/Switzerland
  • Since 2012 exhibiting instruments at the annual Contemporary Violin Makers Exhibition in New York/USA
  • 2013 exhibiting at Mondomusica, Cremona/Italy
  • 2016 jury member at the 13th Henryk Wieniawski Violin Making Competition in Poznan/Poland
  • 2017-2018 participating in the Oberlin Acoustics Workshop/USA
  • 2018 live exhibitor „Best of Europe“ at HomoFaberEvent, Venice/Italy
  • 2018 judge at the VSA Competition in Cleveland/USA in the categories viola, cello and quartet
  • 2019 lecturer and teacher at Varnishing Class organized by Alessandro Tossani and CremonaTools, Cremona/Italy
  • Since 1998 member of the SVGB Swiss Violin Making Association (SVGB)
  • Since 2017 member of the VSA Violin Society of America

CV-document (pdf)