Isabelle Wilbaux Guadagnini model cello, Montreal, 2017 | Metzler Violins

responsive, refined, mature
 
About the Instrument
This cello has a gorgeous, focused sound, responsive and nimble across registers. It carries a particularly lovely tenor timbre with a bold A-string, making it an excellent solo instrument that can blend beautifully in a group. The two-piece back on this instrument bears a strong medium curl, slanting upward from the joint on the bass side, and downward on the treble side. Similar flames run along the ribs and scroll. The varnish is a lovely apricot over a wheat ground, and the instrument lightly antiqued by its maker to honor the historic cello upon which it is modeled.

Interior label reads: “ ‘Alatic’ / Isabelle Wilbaux / Montréal - 2017”
Length: 712 mm
Upper Bouts: 355 mm
Middle: 240 mm
Lower Bouts: 440 mm

About the Maker
Isabelle Wilbaux (1965- ) is a contemporary master luthier who was born in Tournai, Belgium and works out of Montréal, Canada. Wilbaux attended the historic Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria (International Violin Making School) in Cremona, graduating in 1988. She went on to study under Philippe Bodart in Besnçon, France, and Jose-Maria Lozano in Madrid. After her apprenticeships, Wilbaux opened her own atelier in Tournai, then Brussels, before moving to Montréal in 1998, where she has worked since. With four decades’ experience in instrument making, Wilbaux’s pieces are sought out by musicians for their warm, lush tone.

Wilbaux has been awarded several accolades for his instruments, including the Silver Medal for Tone from the Violin Society of America, as well as others for tone and workmanship from VSA for her violins, violas, and quartets. She has also earned three prizes, including the Sacconi Prize for Viola, from the Cremona Triennale International, a Bronze Medal for Violin from the Concours International de Lutherie et d’Archèterie in Paris, and Prize for Best Tone for Violin from the Mittenwald International Violin Making Competition. Wilbaux is a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, Violin Society of America, Entente Internationale des Luthiers et Archetiers du Canada, and Collectif Lutherie Montréal.

https://wilbauxluthier.com/