I was born in Genoa in 1960. My interest in luthiery dates back to 1978, and I built my first instrument, a dulcimer, in 1980. From 1981 to 1983 I studied luthiery under the tutelage of master luthier Claudio Amighetti, after which I went on to study with masters Piergiuseppe Esposti and Sandro Soldi.
I am one of the co-founders of the Genoese Artistic Luthiery Association, established in 1982. That was also the year during which I set up my workshop together with master luthier Federico Löwenberger.
I've since participated in instrument making competitions; took third place in the double bass category at the 15th "Città di Bagnacavallo" national competition, which I entered with an instrument built together with Federico Löwenberger, and the special prize “Conti Branca” at "IV concorso internazionale di chitarra classica in Baveno”.
Since 1995 I focused my attention on baroque bows and they are now my main activity.
In 2002 I completed the bows’ catalogue of the Orpheon Foundation in Wien (Austria) and, in 2003, brought to an end the one of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. In 2005 I started the listing of historical bows by the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) in Bruxelles (Belgium) and edited the complete records of the two bows belonged to G.Tartini collected in the conservatorio di musica of Trieste (Italy).In 2007 started the catalogation of the hirtorical bows collected by the Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 2009 the complete catalogue of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze was issued.
I made instruments and bows for professional musicians all over the world as well as for very important institutions like the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien (Austria), Universitaet fuer Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” of Leipzig (Germany), the Universitaet fuer Musik of Graz (Austria), the “Sibelius Academy“ of Helsinki (Finland), the ESMUC Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya of Barcelona (Spain), the Conservatorio “L.D'Annunzio” of Pescara, the conservatorio “S.Cecilia” of Roma, the Conservatorio “Dall’Abaco” of Verona, the Conservatorio “G.Pierluigi da Palestrina” of Cagliari, the Conservatorio “G.Rossini” of Pesaro, the Conservatorio "G.Tartini" of Trieste and the "California Institute of the Arts" (U.S.A.).
I held lectures about “the evolutions of the bow throughout the baroque period” at the consevatorio “Dall’Abaco” in Verona (2004), at the first “corso di alto perfezionamento nella prassi esecutiva barocca” in Latisana (2005) and a class at the conservatorio “Bomporti” in Trento (2006).).In 2007 I held lecturs about the bows belonged to Giuseppe Tartini either at the opening of the “Centro di documentazione Tartiniana” in Trieste and at the Premio Bomporti Forum in Rovereto. In 2008 I held the class of baroque bow making during the first "baroque luthiery course" in Cremona.. In 2009 a lecture by the Universitaet fuer Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” of Leipzig (Germany) and by the "11th international early music course" at Romano Canavese (Italy).
In cooperation with F.Lowenberger and stringmaker Mimmo Peruffo I started a program for spreading and sharing knowledge about the evolution of stringed instruments; its goal is to issue a support for all the musicians who want to perform “historically informed”.
Alongside with the production on bows I actually work in instruments repair and set-up, during my free time I also carry out my own research on classical guitars.
Airenti,Antonino
