Riccardo Antoniazzi was born in 1853 in Cremona (Italy), the motherland of Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri. Antoniazzi was a talented musician, but, inheriting the craft of his father Gaetano, dedicated himself to making violins. The craftsman worked in Milano, Nice and Venegono (in the north of Italy). For many years, he cooperated with Leandro Bisiach, and after 1904 began making violins for Monzino and Sons. Antoniazzi сould work very quickly, and that did not affect the quality and individuality of the instruments created by him. He did not hesitate to experiment with style, shape and varnish, being inspired by the best specimen of his predecessors. Riccardo Antoniazzi one of the most prominent violin craftsmen of his time, he had many followers and brought up a whole generation of Milanese luthiers.
A successor of a renowned dynasty of luthiers Jules Grandjon was born in 1824 in Mirecourt (France). This town has been famous for its musical instruments makers since the XVII century. After leaning the violin craft from his father, Jules moved to Paris, where he continued to learn this art from other luthiers. He also worked in Amsterdam, and in the 1850s opened his workshop in the hometown of Mirecourt. Grandjon crafted not only traditional violins, but decorated and extravagant large-format specimen. The instruments of the masters were awarded with medals at international fairs in Paris and London.
Igor Vassilyevich Ulitsky graduated from Chisinau State Academy of Music. He began to learn the making of string-bow instruments in the workshop of German Kastrubin, where he made his first violin in 1984. In 1995, he completed his apprenticeship in the workshop of Gio Batta Morassi, a known Italian master, in Cremona. He represented Russia at large international fairs and competitions in Italy, France, Germany, Poland, and Russia. He is the winner of the X International H. Wieniawski Violin Making Competition (Poland, 2001). He is the winner of the First Prize and the Gold Medal of the XII International Tchaikovsky Violin Making Competition (Moscow, 2002). In 2002-2004 he was a staff member of the State Collection of Unique Musical Instruments of the Russian Federation. Since 2004, he has worked as violin maker at Moscow International House of Music.
