Iris Zhulla & Thomas Morel

Born into a musical family, Iris Zhulla was enchanted by the violin, first as a player and later as a maker. Her father, also a luthier, passed on his passion for violin and bow making to her at a young age. Iris received her diploma in violin making from Antonio Stradivari School of Violinmaking in 2012 (Cremona, Italy) and worked as a restoration specialist at the workshop of Martino Ius in Milan until 2014. There she discovered her passion for bow making, and continued her studies under her father’s tutelage as well as further developed her craft at the workshop of Daniel Navea Vera in Cremona.

Her musical training and close collaboration with professional musicians have led her to a deeper understand of their needs. Today, she works alongside her father at the family workshop in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she enjoys both restoration of fine instruments as well as creating new instruments and bows.

Thomas Morel was born in Besançon, France. After graduating with a scientific degree in physics and chemistry, he went on to study mechanical and vibration engineering. Having worked with wood since childhood and played the guitar, the choice of a career in lutherie appeared to be the best way to harmoniously combine all these skills and aptitudes with an artistic dimension.

 

In 2012, he graduated from the IPIALL Antonio Stradivari International School in Cremona, where he studied with Maestri A.Sperzaga, A.Voltini, C.Amighetti, M.Negroni, D.Scolari, M.Ardoli, V.Zambelli and A.Ortona. This was followed in Lyon by a period of training in set-up editing at C. Macabrey’s workshop. To broaden his horizons and perfect his mastery of construction techniques, he met and exchanged with colleagues in Cremona, Genoa and Bologna.

His professional training is constantly evolving, in terms of acoustics and chemistry applied to lutherie, notably through workshops at Fertans or Brandenburg, but also takes inspiration from the precepts set out in the various publications on acoustic research by J.Curtin, M.Schleske, E.Jansson, N.Harris, O.E.Rodgers, G.Stoppani.