Hugh Withycombe 16 Viola Canberra 2017

This viola was made by Hugh Withycombe in 2017, in Canberra. Withycombe is an Australian maker who studied at the Newark School of Violin Making, graduating in 2001. Before establishing his own workshop in Canberra, he worked with Frederick Phelps and Florian Leonhard Fine Violins in London, and also taught at Juliet Barker's violin-making workshops between 1999 and 2002. Withycombe has also had a career in environmentalism, developing climate change policy with the Australian government, a path which has given him an acute view of the importance and benefit of sustainability in the violin making world. 

The viola is labelled "Hugh T. M. Withycombe / Made in Canberra 2017" and signed by the maker. The body measures 409mm along the back, 199mm across the upper bouts and 244mm across the lower bouts. It has a one-piece slab-cut back of sycamore, and the top is a broadly grained spruce. The viola is finished with ebony fittings and an amber-gold varnish. 

It possesses a textured quality to it, with a solid core of sound which carries a well-unified character across its whole range. Because of this, it feels very well-balanced across each string, and blends well with other instruments. It's sound by nature is warm and rounded, but it has plenty of edge to create sharper and more intense flavours. 

Please contact us if you would like to book an appointment to try this beautiful Australian viola.