Dimitri Musafia is an artisan maker of

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

cases for his own company, Musafia. Residing in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, he first trained as a violinist, and subsequently as a violin maker at the

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloqui ...

Institute in Cremona, before self-teaching to make cases, beginning in 1983, on the basis of his previous studies. A Musafia violin case has been made for violins and violas by Stradivari,

Guarneri del Gesu Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his inst ...

Amati Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nico ...

and other makers of the classic period of violin making, including the 1742 Guarneri del Gesu called “the Cannon” once owned by Paganini and the 1715 Stradivari “ex-

Joachim Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

” or “the Cremonese”, part of Cremona’s Civic Collection since 1961 and considered by many as the finest violin in existence.

Early life

Mustafia was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

to pianist and professor at

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

, Julien Musafia and flautist Judith Musafia. He was named after

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

Career

Dimitri Musafia’s works have been commissioned by concert artists such as

Salvatore Accardo Salvatore Accardo (; Knight Grand Cross born 26 September 1941 in Turin, northern Italy) is an Italian violinist and conductor, who is known for his interpretations of the works of Niccolò Paganini. Accardo owns one Stradivarius violin, the "Ha ...

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

Joshua Bell Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Early life and education Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, one of four children of ...

Sarah Chang Sarah Chang (; born Young Joo Chang; December 10, 1980) is a Korean American classical violinist. Recognized as a child prodigy, she first played as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989. She enrolled ...

Uto Ughi Bruto Diodato "Uto" Ughi (; born 21 January 1944) is an Italian violinist and conductor. He was the music director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia between 1987 and 1992. He is considered one of Italy's greatest living ...

, Chloë Hanslip, as well as many concertmasters of important orchestras such as the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

NHK Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra was founded as the ''New Symphony Orchestr ...

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

, Metropolitan Opera of New York, Opera of Rome, La Scala di Milano, and others. For his merits in the field of violin case making, Dimitri Musafia has been defined the “Stradivari of violin case makers” by the City Council for the Arts of Cremona, Italy.

References

1962 births Living people People from Long Beach, California {{morecat, date=July 2025 Violin cases