Frank Passa (1916–2001) was an internationally known American maker of bows and violins (

archetier A bow maker is a person who builds, repairs, and restores antique or modern Bow (music), bows for bowed string instruments. These include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, viola d'amore, viola da gamba, etc. The French word for bowmaker (b ...

and

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

). A native of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Frank Passa was born in 1916 to poor Sicilian immigrants. He was a pupil of

Simone Fernando Sacconi Simone Fernando Sacconi (May 30, 1895 in Rome – June 26, 1973 in Point Lookout) was an expert Italian violin maker and restorer who studied fellow ''luthier'' Antonio Stradivari extensively during his lifetime. "While still at school he became ...

a very talented violin maker from

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 ...

. Sacconi and his shop ( Rembert Wurlitzer Co.) helped develop many of the modern techniques of restoration that are still being used today. About a dozen pupils of his spread out across the United States, and Frank was one of them. Frank served in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and then began his career in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

crafting and restoring

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 ...

s and

bow BOW as an acronym may refer to: * Bag of waters, amniotic sac * Bartow Municipal Airport (IATA:BOW), a public use airport near Bartow, Florida, United States * Basic operating weight of an aircraft * BOW counties, made of Brown, Outagamie, and Winn ...

s, a job he kept for 51 years until he was forced to retire in 1999 due to illness. Mr. Passa was also a member of the Family Club of San Francisco and the Entente International Society of Violin and Bow Makers. "Passa was for many years the best known violin dealer and expert in

. He had studied bow making with the great Emile Auguste Ouchard as well as

Bernard Millant Bernard Millant (1929 – 5 April 2017) was a bow maker, archetier and luthier in Paris, France. He was the son of Max Millant. He studied violin-making at Amédée Dieudonné's workshop in Mirecourt. He also studied bow-making with Louis Morizot ...

while he was working in

. He later passed on this valuable knowledge on to younger bow makers such as Morgan Andersen." He died September 11, 2001, in Santa Rosa after a long illness. He was 85. "Frank Passa was one of the elite American bow makers, who worked in the French tradition of bow making. His work is outstanding." Gennady Filimonov
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References

* *From Violinmaking to Music:The Life & Works of Simone Fernando Sacconi - A.C.L.A.P. Cremona *Grove Dictionary *SACCONI,SIMONE FERNANDO - MOSCONI,ANDREA. Simone Fernando Sacconi. Centenary celebration nel centenario della nascita. Cremona, 1995 *Loan Exhibition of Stringed Instruments and Bows Commemorating the 70th Birthday of Simone Fernando Sacconi, Schuler Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 1966
Wurlitzer, Rembert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passa, Frank 1916 births 2001 deaths Bow makers American luthiers Artisans from New York City