Stephen Murphy, born Sydney, Australia, May 26, 1942, is a lute maker located in Southern France at

Mollans-sur-Ouvèze Mollans-sur-Ouvèze (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Molan'') is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department The following is a list of the 363 communes of the Drôme department of ...

. He makes

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

archlute The archlute ( es, archilaúd, it, arciliuto, german: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the ...

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending out ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

and Baroque guitars and

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

s. Since 1972 he has built over 400 instruments based on originals from the 16th. and 17th century.

External links

Stephen Murphy lutemaker website
French luthiers Lute makers 1942 births Living people Australian emigrants to France People from Sydney {{France-music-bio-stub