My history as an instrument-maker

I was born 1961, in Veteli, Finland. The musical tradition of the Perho river valley formed my childhood surroundings. My enthuasism for instruments and building them began as a child because our family had always been working with wood. My grandfather Leander Laasanen (1892-1985) built furniture, established a ski-making factory, made kanteles and a few violins. My father Kullervo Laasanen (1935-) continued with the skis and kanteles. Altogether they have made hundreds of kanteles. I began with playing the violin at the Conservatoire of Central Ostrobothnia as a young boy and with kantele a little later under the guidance of my father. There has been much music in our family. My brother (Antti Laasanen) and many cousins are professional musicians. The family band has taken various forms. The Kaustinen International Folk Music Festival has had its own influence upon our interests. I became a violinmaker largely because of my musical interests, following fatherīs and grandfatherīs work. When I was quite young I made some kanteles. When studying playing violin, I was interested in making that instrument too. Education I have studied in Leksand in Sweden from 1986-90. This school was the Scandinavian violin-making school. I studied under Urs Wenck-Wolff (Norway), Andrea Laber (Germany), Wilhelm Bruckner (Germany), Samuel Zygmuntowicz (USA). We studied the Italian violin-making tradition, which I still follow today. Since then I have participated in many masterclasses. I was awarded a half year working grant to design and make modern violins in year 1998 from the ArtsīCouncil of the province of Ostrobothnia.

Jussi Laasanen Kullervo Laasanen Leander Laasanen Klick the images above to zoom in

Violins during making and repairing in my workshop

My Workshop I set up my own workshop in Veteli in 1992 close to Veteli church, which is quite close to Kaustinen. My work today includes everything to do with violins and kanteles.