František Špidlen ml.

About

František Špidlen was born in Prague in 1996 and is the fifth generation of the Špidlen violin making family. He was drawn to art from childhood and began playing the violin at six. He studied artistic woodcarving at the secondary school of applied arts in Žižkov, Prague, and eventually graduated in graphic design.

He was then accepted at the renowned Newark School of Violin Making in the UK, earning a BA after three years of study, and completed a six-month internship with the prestigious firm Carlson & Neumann in Cremona. At 24 he returned to the family workshop in Jungmannova Street, Prague, where he builds string instruments alongside his father Jan Špidlen. His violins and violas – among them a viola after Andrea Guarneri (op. 3, 2019) and a violin after Stradivari (op. 5, 2020) – have found favour with professional musicians.

As is the family custom, in his free time he enjoys adrenaline sports, above all snowboarding and kitesurfing.