CLAUDE LEBET

LUTHIER

Claude Lebet began learning luthiery at age twelve in La Chaux-de-Fonds. After cello studies at the Conservatory, he trained at the International School of Violin Making in Cremona, graduating in 1979-1980. He honed his craft with master luthiers in Geneva, New York, and Paris, including Étienne Vatelot.

Lebet crafted instruments for renowned musicians and groups like I Musici di Roma, Lyon’s “Quatuor Ravel,” the Beaux Arts Trio of New York, Paul Tortelier, Arthur Grumiaux, and Henryk Szeryng. The Lebet String Quartet of Rotterdam, playing his instruments, is named after him.

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Biography

Claude Lebet designed the instruments and played the role of Andrea Amati in Gérard Corbiau’s film Saint-Germain ou la Négociation (2003), and appears in Jean Diwo’s novels Les Violons du Roi (ed. Denoel 1990) and Moi, Milanollo, Fils de Stradivarius (ed. Flammarion 2007). He is also the central character in Emiliano Marinucci’s novel Les Yeux du Violon (2013).

Claude Lebet, who is also a specialist in the history of violin making and organology, is the author of the only book devoted exclusively to the maître à danser case. He has also published studies on the history of luthiers and violin making in his two countries of practice, the Republic of Neuchâtel and Rome.