Bouzouki-making revival
Though the Kastoria School of Traditional Instrument Craftsmanship has been operational for the past three years and its first wave of graduates are ready to display their skills, very few people know anything about it. Founded by a Cretan carpenter who decided to close up shop and move to the northern Greek city of Kastoria where he could train with old masters in the art of instrument-making, the school has students ranging from 18 years old to 35 and specializes in traditional Greek finger-plucked string instruments. In essence, the school is the first of its kind today and is jointly funded by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Kastoria within the framework of the National Cultural Network of Cities. Its aim, according to its director, Yiannis Koukouringos, is «to train new instrument-makers, both as skilled craftsmen and as artists and inventors.» «Another basic philosophy (of the school) is the blending of technology and tradition, recalling old techniques and applying new ones, as long as new technologies and ideas do not change the basic character of the music.» The school presently has only eight students and many more are needed for it to operate effectively. Classes start with basic design, followed by manual construction and computer training in carpentry software. The school is very well-equipped, providing even handmade tools made for specific work on specific instruments. «The first year is an introduction to the tools and the basic principles of instrument craftsmanship,» explains Koukouringos, «that’s why first-year students start by making instruments out of a hollowed piece of wood – a baglama and a half-bouzouki.» The second year is dedicated to teaching the students the unique Greek technique by which the instrument’s main body is constructed with thinly cut strips of wood, and basic decorating skills. The curriculum ends in the third year with the construction of three bouzoukis and another instrument of choice. The instruments are then displayed at the school or sold. Bouzouki-making is the school’s focus because, according to Koukouringos, «it is a complex construction that Greek craftsmen have refined to an art.» Some of the instruments made by the Kastoria school have been displayed in exhibitions of folk instruments both in Greece and abroad. The school’s work also provided impetus for the Municipality of Kastoria to hold a conference on traditional instrument-making, inviting Turkish craftsmen whose techniques are related to their Greek counterparts. Information on the Kastoria School of Traditional Instrument Craftsmanship is available on its website: www.culture.gr/luthsc
