his bow was designed for luthier David Prentice's viola. The stick is round, and the adjusting screw is made of ebony and silver. The ebony nut is ornamented with a mother-of-pearl eye.

Viola bow By François Malo Montreal, Quebec 1992 Pernambuco wood, ebony, silver, mother-of-pearl, bone, leather, horsehair 75 cm Brand: "F Malo à Montreal"

     

François Malo

A cellist by training, François Malo cites his curiosity as a musician as the reason for his entry into the world of bow making. After studying for a year in Québec with the Strasbourg bow maker Yves Matter, he decided to broaden his knowledge in France. Finding a teacher in the closed community of bow makers is no mean feat. However, with his bows tucked resolutely under his arm, François Malo managed to convince more than one master bow maker to accept him as an apprentice. He obtained three Canada Council grants which enabled him to study with Gilles Duhaut in Mirecourt (the French capital of stringed-instrument making), William Salchow in New York, and the renowned Stéphane Thomachot in Paris. To date, François Malo has made nearly three hundred bows. His clients include musicians from major Canadian and American orchestras, in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, New York, Philadelphia and Cleveland, to name but a few.

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