Matthew Goffriller
Matteo Goffriller, namesake of the South Tyrol Youth Symphony Orchestra Matteo Goffriller, a South Tyrolean violin maker (born 1659 as Matthias Gfriller in Brixen), spent his working life in Venice and is today famous above all for the outstanding, incomparable quality of his cellos. His work demonstrates such a deep familiarity with Italian violin making that many analysts assume Goffriller worked in the workshops of Antonio Stradivari before taking over his father-in-law's violin studio in Venice in 1690. Goffriller is today considered, along with Domenico Montagnana, a leading representative and founder of the Venetian school of violin making. Throughout history, his instruments have often been erroneously attributed to other Italian violin makers, notably the Guarneri family, Carlo Bergonzi, and Antonio Stradivari. Many of the world's most famous soloists play and have played on Goffriller's precious violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. Matteo Gofriller died in Venice in 1742.
