Casa Stradivari to Reopen in Cremona as International Violin Workshop and Exhibition Space

Casa Stradivari, the workshop at Corso Garibaldi 57 in Cremona where Antonio Stradivari created some of his masterpieces, will reopen in autumn 2022 after years of uncertain fate. The site, which had fallen into disuse and was put up for sale in February 2020 following the closure of a tea house, will be transformed into an international violin-making workshop with exhibition halls and a music laboratory. The project is led by the newly established Fondazione Casa Stradivari, founded by violinist Fabrizio von Arx (also artistic director) along with Antonio Gambardella and Stefania Soldi. Von Arx, Swiss-Neapolitan, expressed emotion at reviving the house, calling it a responsibility to inspire young musicians and promote classical repertoire and Stradivari's name worldwide. Cremona mayor Gianluca Galimberti welcomed the news, noting years of collaboration to valorize the site. The foundation will work closely with the Museo del Violino, whose auditorium hosted project presentations including a screening of the docufilm "For the next 300 years," which follows von Arx's mid-pandemic journey for the 300th birthday of his Stradivari violin, the Madrileno of 1720, renamed The Angel. The building, where Stradivari lived from 1667 to 1680, is the last physical remnant of the luthier; his other home in the luthier quarter was demolished for a gallery, and his body was lost.