Anne-Cécile Chippier
“A bow is a precious object made out of rare Pernambuco wood, mother of pearl, ebony, leather, sometimes also tortoiseshell and gold… I like working with these noble materials”
Anne-Cécile Chippier
Anne-Cécile started studying the violin at the local music school of Nérac in the Lot-et-Garonne (France) and graduated in musicology at the university of Montpellier in 2002. She carried on with her violin studies at the Montpellier Conservatoire, where she obtained her diplomas for violin and chamber music playing. Whilst studying,she joined the Chamber Orchestra of the Cévennes, originally patronised by Yehudi Menuhin.
Following her studies, Anne-Cécile returned to one of her major interests during her teens : instrument making, and particularly bow-making. She was taught in Tours (Indre-et-Loire, France) by master bow maker Gilles Duhaut, who was himself taught by the celebrated master bow maker Bernard Ouchard. Anne-Cécile is therefore in the lineage of the famous French Mirecourt bow making school. She graduated as a bow maker in 2005 and obtained two prestigious grants to help her create her workshop : One from the French foundation and one for the Bleustein-Blanchet foundation.
She left Tours in June 2006 to join Pierre Guillaume in his famous Brussels workshop in Belgium as one of his assistants, where she furthered her craft and knowledge of the making of string quartet bows. Having gained a lot of knowledge with great makers, she finally set up her own workshop, first in Rochefort-Sur-Mer (Charentes Maritimes) and then in Cambo-Les-Bains in the Basque Country.
Testimonial
Choosing a new bow from so many available is difficult. Will it play well with the violin? Does the balance feel right? Is its range of tones and responses right for me? Does it look like a piece of art to be admired as well as used? Being presented with twelve or so bows in my price range, £2000-3000, and slowly reducing them down to two over an hour or so wasn’t easy. However, as soon as I picked up Anne-Cecile’s bow, it felt right… it was that wow feeling. The first notes and scales on the violin just left me smiling. A number of phrases later and I couldn’t decide between two French bows. Both felt perfect! I chose Anne-Cecile’s on price, appearance and of course, its richness and sound variations in combination with my violin. It is a true piece of art I never tire of looking at and playing!!”
Peter Copper, Thatcham, Berks
View some of Anne-Cecile’s work here :
