Project
“A democratically built violin is a symbol of openness, listening and shared experimentation. We want to understand what happens when music and craftsmanship meet and influence each other, not only to produce an instrument, but to generate a new way of learning, creating, and storytelling.”
The project involves four main partners: Associazione Identità Musicali ETS (Italy), the Conservatory of Cartagena (Spain), the Colegiul National de Arta of Bacau (Romania) and Atelier Blot, a renowned violin-making workshop in Cremona — an iconic city of the Italian lutherie tradition, recognized since 2012 as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Partners
Identità Musicali ETS, based in Abruzzo, Italy, was founded in December 2021 with the aim of bringing together young musicians under the age of 35 from the Abruzzo region. The association aims to strengthen ties with its local territory by creating employment opportunities and enhancing regional cultural heritage. Its projects place audiences at the center and propose innovative concert formats grounded in storytelling and shared experiences. Over the years, the productions developed by Identità Musicali ETS have successfully captured the attention of both audiences and cultural institutions, as well as Foundations and municipalities within and beyond the Abruzzo region. In June 2025, the project also received official recognition from the Italian Ministry of Culture, which included it among the beneficiaries of the National Fund for Live Performing Arts (Fondo Nazionale per lo Spettacolo dal Vivo) for the upcoming three-years period.
The Conservatorio de Música de Cartagena is a major public institution for music education located in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Officially founded in 1925 as a music school, it has a long-standing educational and cultural tradition and has steadily developed over time to offer a wide range of music courses and specializations. The institution also participates in European mobility programs such as Erasmus+, promoting cultural and educational exchanges. Over the years, the conservatory has established itself as a key musical reference point within the local community, hosting events, concerts, and cultural activities open to the public, and is fully integrated into the cultural life of Cartagena.
The “George Apostu” National College of Art is a public institution for arts education located in Bacău, Romania. Founded in 1965, it has offered arts education at primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary (high school) levels since 1 September 2011. The college comprises several artistic departments, including music, choreography, fine arts, and architecture, enabling students to develop skills in musical performance (instrumental and vocal), dance (classical, contemporary, and folk), painting, sculpture, graphic arts, and architectural design. The school also takes part in artistic events and competitions, promoting culture and the arts within the local community through cultural projects and collaborations with local institutions.
Atelier Blot Violins (formally Blot Violins S.r.l.) is a lutherie workshop based in Cremona, Italy, specialized in the manufacture, restoration, and trade of bowed string instruments such as violins, violas, and cellos, as well as in the evaluation and certification of both antique and modern instruments.
The company is associated with luthier Eric Blot, a master craftsman of French origin, born in 1955, who trained at the Cremona School of Violin Making and has developed an international career as a maker, restorer, and recognized expert in Italian instruments. Blot Violins is a custodian of the art of violin making, a form of craftsmanship recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Main Goals
The Sound Post has the goal of building a violin through a shared and participatory process, transforming its construction into a genuine educational journey. The violin is conceived not merely as a final object, but as a tool for knowledge, co-creation and intercultural dialogue. As it travels across the countries involved in the project, the completed violin becomes a tangible symbol of European collaboration and of the transmission of knowledge across generations, disciplines, and cultures.
The violin-making process began in June 2025 and developed through all the fundamental stages of traditional lutherie: from the selection and preparation of the wood, to the crafting of individual components, through assembly, varnishing, and acoustic setup. The instrument made its debut in October during a final concert held in Pescara (Abruzzo).
Over the course of the project, an average of 30 musicians under the age of 35 from the partner organizations actively took part in the educational pathway through an innovative pedagogical approach that made them participate in the technical and artistic decisions related to the construction of the instrument.
A selected group of musicians also had the opportunity to spend one week of intensive work inside the Cremona lutherie workshop, experiencing a direct and immersive environment in close contact with master violin makers.
Alongside the in-person activities, The Sound Post included a rich program of online meetings, allowing all participants to engage in dialogue with the luthiers, explore technical, historical, and acoustic aspects of violin making, and actively contribute to the choices that would define the violin’s sonic and aesthetic identity.
Conclusions
The primary objective of The Sound Post was the development of an innovative educational methodology capable of connecting musicians, artisans, and audiences, thereby creating an accessible learning ecosystem oriented toward dialogue between different forms of knowledge.
The project fully aligns with the priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme, promoting pedagogical innovation, the digitalization of educational processes, and the adaptation of artistic and professional skills to the contemporary demands of the labor market.
Through this initiative, Identità Musicali ETS sought to contribute to the enhancement and dissemination of Italian lutherie knowledge, making it accessible to young instrumentalists across Europe and fostering the creation of new connections between music education, artistic craftsmanship, and European cultural citizenship.
The Sound Post thus positions itself as a replicable model of cultural and educational cooperation, capable of bringing together tradition and the future within a shared and meaningful experience.
2024-1-IT01-KA210-VET-000247265 – OID E10314154 - “The Sound Post”
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Get in touch: info@thesoundpostproject.eu