La Cannona #2 (Graduation Viola)

 In order to graduate from Chicago school of Violin making, students have 6 weeks to finish an instrument in white (unvarnished). I decided to make a Viola based on a previous model I had made but with some modifications. 

I made the La Cannona design slightly wider at the middle bout and narrower in the upper bout. Also made the body length slightly shorter.

Due to my work schedule and other circumstances I finished the Viola in 4 weeks. For the tonewood I chose a one-Piece Engelmann Top from British Columbia with density of 0.36 and wide grains. The wood was cut in early 2000.

     
        

For the back I also used one-piece. The maple came from Erie PA. and had the specific gravity of 0.70. Unlike the European maple backs I had used before, this piece of high density slab-cut maple was quite flexible which worked just fine for this viola.

The Viola was ready a few days before the graduation ceremony. Here are a few pictures from the graduation reception at Seman Violins (Skokie, IL)

with Petio Kostov and Hong-Suk Shin.

with William Hoffmann & Hong-Suk Shin






Graduation Ceremony at the concert hall of Seman Violins, December 2024. From left to right: Jeff Phillips, Theodore Skreko, Antoine Nedelec, Peter Seman and yours truly.





In Early 2025 I started varnishing the Viola at home. For a while I played it in orchestra as well as I used it for teaching. Recently I applied the last two coats of Varnish and set it up. It's going to be available at Hoffmann Strings for trials very soon. The body length is under 15 7/8 and its a very responsive instrument with a powerful bass.