The National School of Violin Making
Yann Besson testifies to his apprenticeship at the Mirecourt school of violin making and the skills he built there.
The vocation of Mirecourt
Mirecourt is a small town of 6000 inhabitants located near Neufchâteau in the Vosges department in France.
The violin-making school is housed within the grounds of the Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume high school in Mirecourt.
Is it a coincidence that the banner on Mirecourt's website marks its visual identity with the representation of violins? Who would be naive enough to believe that?
The first violin makers living in Mirecourt were recorded as early as 1620.
In the aftermath of the First World War, Mirecourt was home to four factories, around twenty violin-making workshops and some 175 luthier artisans…
Yann Besson, former student of the Mirecourt school of violin making
Yann Besson was 14 years old when he first heard about the national school of violin making. A year later, he passed his selection tests and began his apprenticeship there.
His experience at the violin-making school
Our "Lutherie" section had a maximum of seven students per year over a five-year course. We were therefore extremely privileged and our teachers were for the most part fantastic.
Twenty-four hours a week were devoted to instrument making, in addition to the teaching of general subjects, music, and art history. Beyond knowledge and culture, these five years gave me an open-mindedness that I appreciate every day.
I was an ordinary student, but I was very eager to learn and I was extremely malleable!
Mirecourt offered me five years of study, a Vocational Aptitude Certificate, a Technician's Certificate, a Diploma in Arts and Crafts, jury awards, and the profession of luthier!
And after Mirecourt…
I also learned that acquiring a technique, however solid it may be – and the one taught by the national school of Mirecourt is undoubtedly solid – does not lead to making instruments “that sound good”.
I didn't like mine aesthetically either, far from it!
The techniques and general teaching provided by the national school of violin making in Mirecourt open up infinite avenues for the discovery of new practices resulting from personal research.
It is through this learning that I gradually achieve an acoustic and aesthetic result which never completely satisfies me, but which gives me the feeling of approaching the ideal that dwells within me.
The school in Mirecourt today
Places are limited to get into the national violin-making school in Mirecourt.
Candidates must have at least a high school diploma and possess a good musical background.
Each year, about ten chosen candidates out of several hundred applicants have the opportunity to access a luthier training course of at least three years.
The three-year apprenticeship allows students to acquire fundamental techniques in instrument making and restoration. These techniques mainly concern violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and viols.
The training provided by the National School of Violin Making in Mirecourt leads to a diploma. Students who pass the exams obtain a DMA in Violin Making and have the opportunity to access jobs in the most renowned violin-making workshops in the world.