Birth of a vocation

Son of a weaver and a painter, Christian grew up between the land, the forest and the old stones of a small village in the Tarn. With a certain artistic sense and a very good ear for music, he has become passionate about music since a very young age and later, has naturally turned to lutherie.
Trained with P. Charton and F. Lebeau for manufacturing, then A. Snitkovski (former student of JF Schmitt) for restoration, he created his own workshop in 2004.
However, he continues to improve constantly through many professional sessions : with JJ Fasnacht (high restoration techniques), I. Carr, F. Denis, T. Echavidre, F. Perego. Christian Charlemagne has been an active member of Aladfi since 2005, and of String Attached.

An art that is transmitted throughout life

After the successful launch of his workshop, other luthiers have joined him to complete his team. For more than 20 years, twenty luthiers have been trained with him. Today, he continues to surround himself with enthusiasts whose professional experiences he complements thanks to the best restoration techniques and a certain sense of pedagogy.

A passion without limits

The technique of the gesture and its precision, the perfect mastery of the tool are essential. The love of wood, the search for the sound timbre, the listening of the musician come to guide the art of the luthier. Since 2019, through hard work, patience and experience, Christian has quite naturally devoted himself essentially to the making of the quartet instruments in the purest tradition of the Italian masters. Thanks to the reorganisation of the workshop, his experience and the team with whom he has been able to surround himself, the restoration and the adjustment of old instruments continue to be transmitted and ensured with ever higher quality standards.

Today passion and enthusiasm are still intact and many musicians from France and around the world trust him faithfully.

Elian remembers being fascinated by the beauty, balance and infinite nuances of the violin from childhood. Before studying his music scores, he had already been observing the instrument from every angle, aware that he has in his small hands a unique object, of rare elegance and a certain balance.

Because the job of a luthier seemed obvious to him, he carried out many internships (N. T. Arun, F. Tranin), and then graduated from the National School of Lutherie of Quebec in 2016. These rich years of learning have allowed him to understand all technical aspects and knowledge, making it possible to move from raw material (wood) to the realization of quartet instruments.

Back in France, Elian worked at Cl. Macabrey in Lyon for several months. This experience was decisive, thanks to the rigorous approach of the lutherie and the working techniques (transmitted as for a majority of the Lyon’s luthiers by the methods of JF. Schmitt). With the desire and opportunity to return to Canada in 2018, Elian worked at the Sound Post Ottawa for master luthier David Doyle (notably trained by Mr. Vainio in Helsinki) and under the direction of Mr. Alistair Grieve for four years.

Today, Elian is back in Lyon in his hometown and now works under the guidance and benevolent eye of master luthier Christian Charlemagne. In this new workshop, where a peaceful atmosphere reigns, he is able to perfect his knowledge and working techniques.

Born near Bordeaux in 1996 to a winegrower mother and a craftsman father, the love of tradition and know-how have always accompanied Paul.
At a very young age, he discovered the piano and the violin. He has been passionate about the arts and studied Music, Musicology and History at university.
Lutherie quickly aroused his curiosity, combining music, artistic finesse as well as the heritage of century-old techniques and gestures.
An internship with Bogidar Vermand has confirmed his vocation. He then studied the making of traditional musical instruments at the George Sand high school in La Châtre in 2020.
The following year, he joined the International Lutherie School of Antwerp (ILSA), where he learned the making of quartet instruments from Erik Buys, Anton Somers and Maarten de Keukeleire.
Graduated in 2023, and following an internship the same year, he was invited to join the workshop by Christian Charlemagne.
He has happily joined a warm team, ready to develop his knowledge and techniques, in a privileged setting in contact with numerous musicians.