Petr Rácz

About

Petr Rácz was born in Luby u Chebu, a small town with a rich violin making tradition. His grandfather introduced him to working with wood, and after primary school he entered the violin making school, which he completed under masters Karel Zadražil and Emil Lupač as the best graduate of his year. Since 1994 he has made master instruments under his own name, refining his craft further with masters Jan Pötzl, Arpád Šivák, Michael van Berkum and Eduard Schwen. In 2008 he passed his master examination and became a member of the Circle of Czech Master Violinmakers.

He makes violins, violas and cellos mainly on Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù models, from naturally seasoned Italian spruce and Bosnian maple, with a varnish based on an old Italian recipe; in his workshop he also carves figurative scrolls. At the 2014 international competition in Moscow two of his instruments placed 3rd and 4th in the category of copies of old instruments, and the same year he won 3rd place at the tone trials in Cheb. From 2009 to 2012 he donated instruments to Václav Hudeček’s Violin Academy.

He runs the Violin-Rácz workshop in Luby together with his son Michal, also a master violin maker; besides master instruments, the workshop makes student violins and repairs string instruments.