Master luthier Michele Sangineto
“When you meet a man who combines the impetuosity of a Norman, the fantasy of a Latin and the manual ability of a Levantine — while hiding the naive and disarming curiosity of an eternal child behind the grim face of a curly blond Calabrese brigand — maybe then you have known Michele Sangineto.”
— Gabriele Abate, engineer
Master luthier Michele Sangineto was born in Albidona in the province of Cosenza in 1944. His small hometown in the Calabria region of southern Italy was founded on the ruins of the ancient Grecian city Leutarnia. There Michele began to study art and later earned an art diploma in creative woodworking in the nearby town of Castrovillari.
In the early 1970s Michele moved to Monza, a medieval city outside of Milan, where he began his exploration into the art of lutherie and the science of organology.
Driven by a natural curiosity and passionate in his research, he further developed his expertise as a craftsman as he continued to experiment.
Before long his instruments were in the hands of international talents such as the Breton Alan Stivell and Derek Bell from Ireland, which led more players to seek him out for custom harps. Other musicians who play Michele's instruments include the Italian musicians Vincenzo Zitello, Stefano Corsi and Alexander Bonivento, and also Irish harpist Grainne Yeats.
His continued investigation and creative imagination led him to specialize in the construction of chordophones of European origin such as mandolas, mandolins, bouzoukis, citterns, lyres, arched zithers, psalteries, dulcimers, Gothic and Celtic harps, crottas, arpanettes and vielles.
The self-taught artist has been honored by the Associazione Italia Medievale di Milano for his intensive research and dedication to the crafting of traditional instruments.
Michele is also one the great Italian popularizers of Medieval art and music on television and radio. His interviews have been broadcast on numerous to national and international TV and radio channels.
For almost 30 years he has been organizing European folk music festivals and events for artists and scholars including Derek Bell, N. Zabaleta, Roberto Leydi, Diego Carpitella and Michele Straniero.
— Gabriele Abate, engineer
By MARIELLA RADAELLI
 |
| Michele and the viola organista he built based on the design of Leonardo da Vinci. |
In the early 1970s Michele moved to Monza, a medieval city outside of Milan, where he began his exploration into the art of lutherie and the science of organology.
Driven by a natural curiosity and passionate in his research, he further developed his expertise as a craftsman as he continued to experiment.
Before long his instruments were in the hands of international talents such as the Breton Alan Stivell and Derek Bell from Ireland, which led more players to seek him out for custom harps. Other musicians who play Michele's instruments include the Italian musicians Vincenzo Zitello, Stefano Corsi and Alexander Bonivento, and also Irish harpist Grainne Yeats.
His continued investigation and creative imagination led him to specialize in the construction of chordophones of European origin such as mandolas, mandolins, bouzoukis, citterns, lyres, arched zithers, psalteries, dulcimers, Gothic and Celtic harps, crottas, arpanettes and vielles.
The self-taught artist has been honored by the Associazione Italia Medievale di Milano for his intensive research and dedication to the crafting of traditional instruments.
Michele is also one the great Italian popularizers of Medieval art and music on television and radio. His interviews have been broadcast on numerous to national and international TV and radio channels.
For almost 30 years he has been organizing European folk music festivals and events for artists and scholars including Derek Bell, N. Zabaleta, Roberto Leydi, Diego Carpitella and Michele Straniero.
More on Michele here.
Comments
Post a Comment