Scott Cao (pronounced Chow) is a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

maker (

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

), who is originally from China but now works in

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-air retail complex which was i ...

, United States.

Biography

In the mid-1970s, amidst

Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PR ...

's cultural revolution, Cao was a farm worker. A violin-making teacher who visited the area offered him the opportunity of an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

ship. He graduated from the Guangzhou Institute of Professions in 1977. When China opened its borders Cao went to the United States in 1985. He originally stayed in San Francisco where a violin dealer suggested that he should study repairing older instruments under a master luthier. His mentors included eminent violin makers such as Louiz Bellini, Hans Weisshaar, and Roland Feller. In 1990, Scott partnered with Hideo Kamimoto to start a violin shop and returned to China, where he founded a company which makes affordable instruments and bows, including violas, cellos, basses, guitars and established Scott Cao Violins. Three years later Scott was able to open his own shop in the United States in

. His best instruments are meticulous copies of famous

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 colloqu ...

and

Guarneri The Guarneri (, , ), often referred to in the Latinized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati a ...

designs.

Awards

*Silver medal for viola, 1996 VSA international competition. *Silver medal for violin, 1996 VSA international competition. *Third place overall, viola, 1994, 7th international Antonio Stradivari competition, Cremona, Italy. *Certificate of Merit for violin tone, 1992 VSA competition. *Two first place for violin tone and workmanship, 1990 Violin Maker's Association of British Columbia. *Tone and Workmanship award for viola, 1988 VSA competition. *Tone award for violin, 1986 VSA competition.

Owners and players

His instruments are known to have been owned or played by: *

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky ( lv, Miša Maiskis, he, מישה מייסקי, russian: Миша Майский; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, ha ...

Elmar Oliveira Elmar Oliveira (born June 28, 1950) is an American violinist. Early life The son of Portuguese immigrants, Elmar Oliveira was born in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother John. At age 16 ...

* Eduard Schmieder * Bin Huang * Li Chuan Yun *

Ning Feng Ning Feng (宁峰, born 1982) is a Chinese violinist. He was born in Chengdu, China, and is based in Berlin. Career Ning Feng started playing the violin at a very young age and shortly after his fourth birthday he began lessons with Hu Weimin ...

* Siqing Lu * Sergio Prieto

References

External links

* Official website: http://www.scottcaoviolins.com * Instrument of History article about Scott Cao http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/11.18.99/violin-9946.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Scott Chinese luthiers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)