Carlos Funes Vitanza cello, 2021, "personal model", San Francisco, USA | Metzler Violins

nimble, resonant, soulful

About the Instrument
This cello is wonderful to play, nimble and focused. Its depth and resonance sings across registers. The auburn varnish is applied over a wheat ground, highlighting the strong medium curl falling from the center joint of its two-piece back. Similar flames run along the ribs and scroll.

Interior label reads: “Carlos Funes Vitanza / Fatto in San Francisco 2021
Length: 762 mm
Upper Bouts: 367 mm
Middle: 257 mm
Lower Bouts: 446 mm

About the Maker
Carlos Funes Vitanza (1958- ) is a contemporary luthier who was born in La Lima, Honduras to Honduran and Italian parents. When Vitanza was nine, the family immigrated to the Bay Area of California. A cellist as a child, Vitanza built his first cello unassisted at the age of fourteen. Using his high school woodshop, Vitanza went on to build two violas, a violin, guitar, and second cello. In 1979, Vitanza attended the historic Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria (International Violin Making School) in Cremona, where he studied under the master luthiers Giorgio Scolari, Stefano Conia, and Riccardo Bergonzi. In his spare time, Vitanza was trained in wood sculpture by a Cremonese master woodcarver. Upon his graduation in 1983, Vitanza remained in Cremona for three years, during which he crafted a series of violins, violas, cellos, as well as Renaissance and Baroque instruments. During his seven years in Italy, Vitanza built over thirty instruments. In 1986, Vitanza returned to the United States and joined the Roland Feller Violins atelier in San Francisco, working closely with Simone Sacconi to learn the German art of restoration. Vitanza’s instruments reflect his deep study of the Italian masters, and examples of his work are on display the IPIALL Museum in Cremona.

https://carlosvitanza.weebly.com/