The many masterpieces of the great makers of the 17th and 18th Century, which I have had the opportunity to restore, provide me with a continuous source of inspiration.
However, my work is equally influenced by my every day life.
With each symphony I hear vibrating with energy, with every musician who visits my workshop, with a particular late-night concert, or when encountering an unexpected street musician, my idea of the sounds I wish to create in my own instruments are altered and illuminated.
Inspiration also comes from anything that is moving me: the sight of a piece of wood, the sound of a brook playing with pebbles or the quietness of a landscape. It may come whilst stood on the peak of a mountain, or whilst simply lying beneath a tree.
Playing the instruments myself serves as a useful perfection process, and a way of discovering if my ideas can bear fruit.

about me
Born in Tegernsee, a small alpine village south of Munich, Germany, I come from a family of woodworkers and musicians. Growing up in my father’s furniture workshop, I started learning the double bass at fourteen and became the first violin maker in the Krattenmacher family.

After completing my initial training at the Mittenwald Violin Making School and working for three years in Germany, I spent a number of years working for various established makers in countries as diverse as Hong Kong, Australia and England. This time abroad enabled me to gain invaluable experience of other violin making schools and allowed me to distance myself mentally, technically and stylistically from the German tradition and to explore other styles and techniques. My extensive restoration experience has given me the opportunity to work on many fabulous instruments of the “Great Makers”. It is the combination of my German training and my eclectic work experience that makes me the maker I am today.

In 1998, I was awarded the title of “Master Violinmaker” (Geigenbaumeister) and simultaneously won both the Bavarian State Prize and the Crafts Council Prize in Munich. I have also been awarded an English Crafts Council setting-up grant and have now established myself as an independent maker.

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