9 Mar 2011

Moscow Report, Part 1

So, as I mentioned, David Collett and I visited Moscow last week. Here are his impressions and a few photos of this cool shop we visited:

We were invited to visit luthier Timophey Tkach after having viewed one of his flamenco guitars built in 2006. It was a negra, owned by the local flamenco pro, Pascha. The sound and feel of this guitar reminded me very much of the Conde’s that have become immortalized by Paco de Lucia. After Pascha told us that the guitar had been intentionally modeled on Conde, I realized this was a guitar maker worth investigating. So the next day we made our way to his shop, which was actually not really a shop, but part of a sort-of musical co-op where upon entering the compound we walked through a maze of connected rooms that were bustling with all kinds of activity – piano makers, musical theory instruction, violin and cello making, etc. By the time we made it to Timophey’s workshop area, we were also greeted by several of his apprentices who were all busily working away on guitars and violins. Timophey was an impressive fellow and highly respected by all those around him. He did not have one of his instruments to show us but we were able to check out some half-built instruments by his apprentices and the craftsmanship was top-notch by any standard. He also had a couple of other guitars that were there (for adjustment or repair?) including a cedar-topped Conde negra and an older Contreras. There was a whirlwind of activity in this place and everyone there was extremely hospitable and welcoming to us. We’ll stay in touch and explore the possibility of getting one of these instruments over here to GSI so keep your eyes peeled…

A weirdly posed shot of me (playing), David Collett on the left and Timophey on the right.