Massimo de Bonfils

Conservatorio Santa Cecilia - Rome, String, Faculty Member

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Massimo de Bonfils, Violin, History and Technology of Stringed Instruments, Communication Technique and Lutherie Professor at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, he graduated both in Violin and Viola. Winner of first prizes at contests of the S. Cecilia National Academy Orchestra of Rome, the F.J. Haydn Symphony Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, the Opera House of Rome and the Rome Festival Orchestra of New York, at the age of twenty he is already a conservatory professor and at thirty-one he becomes, in Alessandria and Novara, the youngest Conservatory Director in Italy. He has participated in tours with the Orchestra of the Petruzzelli Theatre in Europe, Brazil and the USA. He has performed as soloist with Orchestras of three continents and is invited to be part of numerous juries of prestigious International Awards. He has had concerts and radio-TV recordings in more than sixty countries in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East. Moreover, he has directed Chamber Orchestras in Italian Festivals and abroad (Burgos - Spain 1986, Carthage - Tunisia 1999, Santa Cruz - Bolivia 2004). During the last five years he has performed in Duo at Rome, Milan and Cremona (Italy), Valencia (Spain), Frankfurt, Regensburg and Münich (Germany), Poschiavo (Switzerland)
Address: c/o Santa Cecilia Conservatory
via dei Greci 18
00187 Rome
Italy

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Papers by Massimo de Bonfils

Cristiano o cattolico? Non è la stessa cosa ...

https://culturaesocietainitalia.wordpress.com/2023/09/23/cristiano-o-cattolico-non-e-lo-stesso/, 2023

In Italia si è convinti che i termini cristiano e cattolico siano sostanzialmente sinonimi. In re... more In Italia si è convinti che i termini cristiano e cattolico siano sostanzialmente sinonimi. In realtà, oltre al cattolicesimo, molte sono le organizzazioni cristiane che rivendicano di essere cristiane, come la Chiesa Ortodossa, il Protestantesimo e vari gruppi minori. Tutte loro, quindi, dovrebbero aderire alla dottrina di Cristo, esposta nella Bibbia. Eppure sono diverse fra loro, e spesso anche all’interno della stessa organizzazione. E se differissero anche da Cristo?

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Chi ha ucciso la Musica Classica?

Il Ponte, Firenze, 2022

A title worthy of a 'Mondadori crime novel', but with some new variations: the crime was not perp... more A title worthy of a 'Mondadori crime novel', but with some new variations: the crime was not perpetrated by a dozen different murderers (as in Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie) but many more, furthermore the victim was tortured for more than a century before succumbing. Never before has it been more appropriate to say that it was a death foretold.

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Oltre Stradivari, il nuovo violino Santa Cecilia

by Massimo de Bonfils and Mauro Fabretti

Oltre Stradivari, il nuovo violino Santa Cecilia, 2019

Original version in English and its Italian translation of essay BEYOND STRADIVARI: THE NEW SANTA... more Original version in English and its Italian translation of essay BEYOND STRADIVARI: THE NEW SANTA CECILIA VIOLIN, Last Research in the Classic Italian Lutherie created by Massimo de Bonfils and Mauro Fabretti and published in the specialized magazine SIMP*6 (STUDIA INSTRUMENTORUM MUSICAE POPULARIS; volume VI, ISBN 978-3-96163-118-6, ISSN 2191-5261) as an integral part of the official proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium held in Lisbon at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa from 9 to 13 April 2019; this research was presented there by a short conference in English illustrated by slides and followed by a public demonstration performance by a violin and guitar duo concert

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Il Futuro della Religione

https://culturaesocietainitalia.wordpress.com/2023/09/21/il-futuro-della-religione/, 2023

Non intendiamo qui chiederci quale sarà il profilo socio-religioso mondiale nei prossimi decenni.... more Non intendiamo qui chiederci quale sarà il profilo socio-religioso mondiale nei prossimi decenni. A questo ha già provveduto lo studio dell'istituto americano Pew Research Center di Washington, pubblicato nel 2015 e riguardante le proiezioni sino al 2050 1. Fra i dati emerge il fatto che il cristianesimo rimarrà ancora la principale religione (31% del totale), anche se seguita da vicino dall'islam (30%). Eppure, anche se la popolazione del pianeta aumenterà del 35%, i musulmani cresceranno del 73% (contro il 35 dei cristiani). Fra le cause principali un maggior tasso di fecondità ed una età media più giovane. Lo storico "sorpasso" dei musulmani sui cristiani dovrebbe avvenire nel 2070.

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Il ruolo della Religione nell'Economia mondiale

https://micromegaedizioni.net/2023/06/29/la-religione-e-la-sua-influenza-sulle-economie-mondiali/, 2023

Durante la Storia l’Europa ed il mondo intero si sono trovati divisi tra due pensieri economici, ... more Durante la Storia l’Europa ed il mondo intero si sono trovati divisi tra due pensieri economici, uno protestante e l’altro cattolico: uno che sprona ad apprendere andando a scuola, caratterizzato dal pensiero critico e dal laissez faire per quanto riguarda l’etica manageriale ed imprenditoriale, e l’altro che bruciava i libri (e non solo), imprigionava gli scienziati e richiedeva una pesante ortodossia. Con tali premesse, non è strano che oggi l’eredità economica del protestantesimo sia un passo più avanti di quella del cattolicesimo. L’attuale situazione finanziaria dalla crisi del 2008 in poi conferma la tesi dell’economista Max Weber: Italia, Spagna e Portogallo, paesi cattolici del sud, sono particolarmente indebitati mentre va decisamente meglio al nord protestante.

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Religione ed Arte, un amore abbandonato per un nuovo amante

https://www.micromega.net/religione-ed-arte-una-relazione-abbandonata-per-un-nuovo-amante/, 2023

In the most important museums it is easy to recognize how religion has expressed itself in art du... more In the most important museums it is easy to recognize how religion has expressed itself in art during the past centuries, but in the same museums it is difficult to identify contemporary works that address religious themes. Hostility? Distrust? Or more simply has art, as a vehicle of religious emotions, been overcome and replaced by other means?

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GUERRA e/o PACE

https://www.micromega.net/guerra-e-o-pace-il-dilemma-della-religione/, 2023

The influence of the great Religions could certainly have been more decisive on History and on th... more The influence of the great Religions could certainly have been more decisive on History and on the opinions of the masses than the ideas of the great philosophers have ever been. Over the centuries, Religion has had millions of religious ministers trained to educate and convince the billions of faithful who have listened to them; well, with what results? After two thousand years of Christian apostolate and fourteen hundred years of Islam we should have reached who knows what ethical heights, but instead...

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L'Araba Fenice: la musica classica in Italia

https://www.micromega.net/musica-classica-la-nostra-araba-fenice, 2023

Serve un progetto di rinascita economica basato sul primato della cultura. Un'idea non così irrea... more

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Evolution of Violin Making, From the Myth of Stradivari to the Violins of the Future

London Journals Press, 2022

The good news is that Stradivarius are works of art that still produce what they were made for, a... more The good news is that Stradivarius are works of art that still produce what they were made for, a beautiful sound, and any violinist would love to have a violin that sounds like that. The bad news is that the Stradivari are few (about 500 worldwide), very expensive and around them there are strange interests. The question is: isn't 300 years of technological progress enough to enable us to build instruments that sound like a Stradivarius? Or are we but business is more important? Does the world of culture always have to wait for the beasts of profit to feed themselves? Meanwhile, are we hiding the Truth?.

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Stradivari's Violins, Market Economy and Contemporary Lutherie

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, Jul 14, 2022

Antonio Stradivari's violins are considered the best for aesthetics and sound. All the best violi... more Antonio Stradivari's violins are considered the best for aesthetics and sound. All the best violinists in the world would love to play one of those gorgeous instruments, but the Market problem is that there are now only 500 Stradivarius left in the world; not all of them are in good condition, and they are not eternal. Moreover, they are few and costly. The aim of contemporary Lutherie should be to produce violins (and other stringed instruments) with the same characteristics as the great Cremona's master but at reasonable prices. After 300 years, we could also aspire to produce better instruments than Stradivari. Using modern scientific instruments, we can understand every aspect of the construction technique of the great Stradivarius. Using the technology available today, we should be able to do even better.

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Evolution Exists, at Least in Musical Instruments

EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR)

Charles Darwin could have more successfully applied his theory of evolution to the technological ... more Charles Darwin could have more successfully applied his theory of evolution to the technological development evident in Musical Instru-ments. Even the modern violin, so apparently similar to that of the 1600s, has actually been largely modified and for reasons similar to those that Darwin wanted to attribute to the origin of the species. Following his logic, what will the Violin of the future be? The new ergonomic violin model developed by the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome may be the answer. Let us consider the concerto for violin and orchestra. From the Baroque era to Mozart, then from Beethoven to Tchaikovsky up to Sibelius and Khachaturian, the solo violinist had to deal with ever increasing acoustic needs that over time have been satisfied by continuous changes and updates in the construction of violins. Even the greatness of the theaters and the way in which the music was written progressively required more and more power and higher quality of sound: will classical lutheri...

Knowledge and Innovation on Classic Italian Lutherie: A Competitive Education in Market Economy

Educational Alternatives, 2017

The Italian Violin Making reached its highest level of perfection in the days of Antonio Stradiva... more The Italian Violin Making reached its highest level of perfection in the days of Antonio Stradivari. Nowadays his stringed musical instruments have high prices and very few people can hope to buy one, but the contemporary Italian production is still the most appreciated by the market, a true economic success that endures along the centuries. Using modern technology it is now possible to fully understand and perhaps exceed the Stradivari's levels of perfection. The Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome in 2011 founded a Lutherie course that is reaching these goals.

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Drafts by Massimo de Bonfils

Darwinismo, l'ultimo totem-tabù

https://culturaesocietainitalia.wordpress.com/2023/10/13/128/, 2023

If you are to accept the teaching of macroevolution as true, you must believe that agnostic or at... more If you are to accept the teaching of macroevolution as true, you must believe that agnostic or atheistic scientists will not let their personal beliefs influence their interpretations of scientific findings. You must believe that mutations and natural selection produced all complex life-forms, despite a century of research that shows that mutations have not transformed even one properly defined species into something entirely new. You must believe that all creatures gradually evolved from a common ancestor, despite a fossil record that strongly indicates that the major kinds of plants and animals appeared abruptly and did not evolve into other kinds, even over aeons of time. Believing in Evolution is an act of blind and unreasonable “faith.” Sigmund Freud would have defined Darwinism as the last taboo-totem.

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Conference Presentations by Massimo de Bonfils

Modernity form the past, a new violin based on traditional Italian lutherie and inspired by Nature

10th International cientific Meeting for Sound, Music and Musical Instruments, 2021

The Presentation by Massimo de Bonfils at the Animusic Organological Congress of Castelo Branco (... more The Presentation by Massimo de Bonfils at the Animusic Organological Congress of Castelo Branco (Portugal) on August, 2021, the 10th International Scientific Meeting for Sound, Music and Musical Instruments Studies, about the new experimental Santa Cecilia violin, built at the Violin Making Course of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music, Rome (Italy)

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The Beautiful Sound, A Visible Voice

Conference Proceedings, 2022

The beautiful sound. How can we define beautiful something that cannot be seen? For centuries eve... more The beautiful sound. How can we define beautiful something that cannot be seen? For centuries everyone has defined the sound of Stradivari as beautiful, but no one can see it. The problem is that there are now only 500 instruments of him left in the world, not all of them are in good condition and they will not be eternal; moreover, they are few and very expensive. So, we need new violins of that same acoustic standard at reasonable prices, but first of all we need to train and educate a generation of high-level luthiers, capable of not only equaling but also exceeding the production standards of Antonio Stradivari. Today this is possible, and we teach to do it: this is our educational purpose.

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Massimo de Bonfils

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